Legal & General has sold a circa 267,000-square-foot multilet warehouse portfolio for £37.2 million, with a limited supply of existing stock and high demand for space continuing to attract investors to the subsector.
The Equinox portfolio, a nationwide collection of industrial schemes comprising 19 units, was split up and bought by two groups, according to the vendor's agent Atlas Real Estate.
Analysis of Land Registry and CoStar data shows Legal & General bought each of the schemes in the early 2020s.
Three of the schemes – Nexus 2, Bamel Way, Gloucester Business Park, Gloucester; The Ermine Centre, Hurricane Close, Huntingdon; and Runway Park, Church Road, Crawley – were bought as a separate portfolio by an undisclosed investor represented by DTRE. CoStar data shows these three properties were sold for £29.55 million.
The final asset, 1150-1575 Aztec West in Bristol, comprising two adjoining units of 55,689 square feet, was sold to a property company represented by Kimmre. CoStar data suggests the buyer was NP Investment Management, a sister boutique investment company to commercial real estate consultancy Kimmre based in London's West End. It paid £7.65 million.
Ben Blackwall, director at Atlas Real Estate, said in a statement: "The sale of this portfolio concludes the successful disposal of four non core assets for our client.
"The portfolio received strong interest highlighting the demand for UK multi-let industrial property, which is underpinned by a severely constrained supply of existing stock, lack of new build development and a high level of occupational demand."
In June L&G agreed a £400 million Revolving Credit Facility after securing a refinancing of its Industrial Property Investment Fund, increasing funding capacity from its previous £350 million facility.
Jonathan Holland, the fund's senior manager, said at the time that the group was "dedicated to investing in high-quality, well performing assets, which offer strong returns from increased rental growth as demand in the sector continues to rise".
L&G and NP Investment Management were approached for comment.