Segro sells regional parks below 2011 value

Industrial Segro has exchanged conditional contracts to sell its holdings at Heywood Distribution Park in Rochdale and Trafford Park in Manchester as part of a portfolio of four non-core regional estates.

The four are in the process of being sold for £204.5m to a fund advised by Harbert Management Corporation (Europe) LLC.

The other two multi-let industrial estates are Kings Norton Business Centre and Meteor Park in Birmingham.

Segro's two regional offices in Manchester and Birmingham will close as a result of the disposals.

The four estates comprise approximately 4.7m sq ft of lettable space. Segro acquired 2.5m sq ft at Trafford Park as part of its takeover of Brixton in June 2009. Segro paid £150m to buy the 3.2m sq ft Heywood from Moorfield Group in 2005. There have been piecemeal disposals of premises and land at both Greater Manchester estates in the meantime.

Segro said that at 31 March 2012 the portfolio had a vacancy rate of 20.5% and a weighted average unexpired lease term of 4.3 years to earliest break. The sale price represents a net initial yield of 6.7%, or 7.4% with the benefit of lease incentive top-ups. The sale proceeds, net of lease incentive top-ups, are approximately 2.9% below the 31 December 2011 book value.

Completion is contingent upon finalisation of the purchaser's bank funding arrangements, which have been credit committee approved by the purchaser's lenders.

Phil Redding, Segro's chief investment officer, said: "In the year to date, assuming the completion of this transaction, we have announced non-core asset disposals of £377m, with further disposals expected during the remainder of the year. This latest announcement is another important step forward in the process of re-shaping our portfolio to focus on core markets."

Shares in Segro were unchanged at 217p.

Jones Lang LaSalle advised Segro. Dowley Turner Real Estate represented Harbert.

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