Royal London Asset Management Property has finalised a round of transactions in the industrial and logistics sector worth more than £350 million, including a circa £315 million industrial estate-to-data centre site sale in west London.
The company has sold 33.6 acres of industrial and logistics assets in Southall, West London. The portfolio is a freehold data centre redevelopment opportunity centred around International Trading Estate, Brent Road.
Located two miles from Heathrow Airport and close to the M4 motorway, the site is also adjacent to robust fibre connections making it convenient for data centre redevelopment.
RLAM declined to name the buyer, which has bought a site valued at around £315 million. However, the buyer is registered as a holding company, GTR London, which is likely linked to Global Technical Realty. GTR is a €1 billion European build-to-suit data centre platform, funded by KKR, the leading global investment firm. In 2021 it confirmed its first major UK data centre campus. Located on the Segro trading estate in Slough, GB One is a 40.5MW site which comprises three independent facilities capable of operating individually, or as a single interlinked campus.
RLAM and KKR declined to comment. GTR did not respond to a request for comment.
In Havant, Royal London Asset Management Property has partnered with Canmoor Developments to buy a 4.16-acre brownfield site from the administrators of Dunham-Bush for £5.13 million. The strategic acquisition paves the way for the development of three Grade A industrial units, providing 104,320 square feet of lettable floor area. The new development will be targeting EPC A+ and BREEAM Outstanding.
Royal London Asset Management Property has also leased out its newly developed units at Springfield Business Park in Chelmsford on a 10-year lease.
A supplier of copier paper, educational supplies, furniture and hygiene products to schools and colleges has taken 36,000 square feet to establish its new head office and use the warehouse for storage and distribution of stock. RLAM said the agreed rent represents the highest rent achieved in Chelmsford for a mid-box unit.
The final two units at Springfield Business Park in Chelmsford were developed by Royal London Asset Management Property in 2023. The units have been rated BREEAM Excellent, EPC A and are provided with PV panels, EV charging points and bike storage. The gross development value of the scheme is estimated at £30 million.
James Orr, head of industrial and logistics at Royal London Asset Management Property, said in a statement: “We are extremely proud of the latest sector transactions as this pivot into development stock is a key component of our strategy. By rotating out dry investments through sales and recapitalisation, we aim to generate higher returns. The acquisition in Havant will enable us to construct a best-in-class three-unit terrace of warehouses in an undersupplied area, positioning us to achieve enhanced returns similar to those we realised in Chelmsford.”
Royal London Asset Management Property manages over 17 million square feet of industrial and logistics across the UK, with the majority of sites located in the South East. Recent transactions include the acquisition of the 24-acre Abbey Works site in Fareham and the sale of a 1.2 million square feet national portfolio of industrial and logistics assets to Ares Management.