Two large industrial deals totalling around £250 million completed at the end of last year, boosting investment volumes for a sector expected to have a busy start to 2025.
The largest of the transactions was a circa £145 million acquisition in Dartford, Kent, where developer-investor Chancerygate bought Questor Industrial Estate from Schroders, according to sources close to the deal.
The urban warehouse development, built by Goya Developments, comprises 250,000 square feet, with planning for an additional 115,000 square feet.
Knight Frank acted for Chancerygate, which describes itself as the only multi-unit industrial property developer operating nationwide. Gerald Eve acted for Schroders.
Chancerygate's Dartford deal follows an £8 million transaction it completed in November with JR Capital for Cranham Industrial Estate, a 67,850-square-foot industrial estate in Worcester, reported here.
The second large deal to take place at the end of last year was Canada Life's disposal of a large Tesco distribution hub in the UK's logistics "Golden Triangle" for around £105 million.
Canada Life instructed Knight Frank to seek offers in excess of £89 million for the 756,000-square-foot facility on Saxon Drive in Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal at the beginning of November. The guide price reflected a net yield of 5%.
It sold for around 20% higher than that to Sunrise Real Estate, in a deal first reported in Green Street News. The investor's portfolio spans 9 countries and more than 20 million square feet of warehouse space, according to its website.
Canada Life acquired the development for £24 million in May 2005.
Figures from Knight Frank's industrial capital markets team show it transacted £1.2 billion of industrial and logistics property last month and placed an additional £200 million under offer.
The team has flagged "encouraging conviction and positive sentiment" towards the UK logistics and industrial sector and expects a busy first half of this year.
Other deals in that flurry of transactions include Royal London Asset Management's purchase of Beeches Industrial Estate from DTZ Investors for around £48 million, reflecting a net yield of circa 5.4%.
DTZ Investors put the 52-unit estate on the block for £40.8 million in October, reflecting a net yield of 6.4%, with Knight Frank acting for the vendor.
Segro also completed a circa £110 million deal for Enfield Distribution Park, buying the North London scheme from Schroder Capital, reported here.
Blackstone got the year off to a strong start having agreed a £200 million with PGIM to buy a portfolio of 18 last-mile logistics assets close to urban areas in the UK, reported here, including Manchester, Birmingham, Reading and Leeds.
Chancerygate and Schroders declined to comment.