EQT Exeter has bought Northampton IV, a 210,303-square-foot distribution hub leased to Yusen Logistics from Segro for £25.6 million or a 4.8% yield.
The global real estate investment manager has bought the hub which is located on Cheaney Drive at Grange Park Industrial Estate close to the M1 at Junction 15.
Knight Frank advised EQT Exeter and Segro was advised by ACRE and DTRE.
In February, Yusen Logistics UK agreed a deal with Segro, the UK's largest REIT, for another 1.2 million square feet at a nearby Northampton development, for what will be the Japanese firm's largest facility globally.
The lease, which is subject to detailed planning consent, is for Yusen Logistics to occupy a 1,191,000-square-foot unit at the 600-acre Segro Logistics Park Northampton, enabling the company to "provide its customers with rail freight distribution solutions and support them in reducing their carbon emissions". It is the first tenant at the park.
Yusen Logistics' unit at Plot 6 will be developed to high sustainability standards, targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating, and will be fitted with photovoltaic panels and 220 electric vehicle charging units, allowing the firm to charge its all electric company car fleet.
The wider development will comprise 5 million square feet of distribution space and sits next to Junction 15 of the M1. The site includes a 235-acre community park, offering footpaths, cycle routes, new woodlands and wetlands, 20 kilometres of hedgerows and the planting of 60,000 trees. Yusen's new unit is expected to be fully operational by summer 2025.
Swedish private equity firm EQT bought Exeter Property Group, the global real estate investment manager with more than $10 billion of assets under management, in January 2021 for $1.87 billion.
Exeter had been particularly active in the UK in the prior year, buying significant industrial portfolios. In September that year it bought a portfolio of nine UK logistics assets for £150 million from BA Pension Fund a week after it had bought two other industrial assets from Tritax Big Box REIT for £62 million.
It has 50 offices in 20 countries and has $30 billion of assets under management according to its website.