Affiliates of Harbert European Real Estate Fund III, L.P, in conjunction with institutional investors, have acquired IQ Farnborough and four multi-let industrial estates from SEGRO for £284 million (approx. 354 million). The assets were part of a disposal program initiated by SEGRO towards the end of 2011.
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IQ Farnborough was originally acquired by SEGRO from the Ministry of Defense in 1999.
IQ Farnborough was originally acquired by SEGRO from the Ministry of Defense in 1999 and has been developed as a class-A office park. The park consists of approximately 450,000 ft² (approx. 41,800 m²) of existing space across nine buildings with building rights for an additional 620,000 ft².
The property was acquired in May for £79.75 million or £177 per ft² of existing space. The buildings are well occupied across a number of tenants. Fluor, the largest tenant, relocated their EMEA headquarters to the property in 2010 and occupies four buildings, one of which was sold on a long leasehold.
The four multi-let industrial estates acquired are Trafford Park and Heywood Distribution Park in Manchester and Kings Norton Business Centre and Meteor Park in Birmingham. The portfolio consists of approximately 4.35 million ft² of existing space plus an additional 62 acres of developable land. The properties were acquired in June for £204.5 million.
Scott O'Donnell, Senior Managing Director of HMC Europe, said: "These acquisitions represent our second and third transactions with SEGRO and fit nicely with our existing portfolio. Both acquisitions are defensive in nature with strong in place cash flow yet have significant upside potential.
"We are pleased that in today's challenging economic environment that we have been able to source attractive investment opportunities and secure financing for them."
Harbert was advised by Wragge & Co on the legal aspects of both transactions. With respect to property Harbert was advised by Drivers Jonas Deloitte, DTRE and XLB for IQ Farnborough and B8, DTRE and Canmoor on the industrial portfolio.
Harbert Management Corporation, sponsor of the Harbert European Real Estate Funds, is an alternative asset investment management firm that manages 10 investment strategies. The European real estate investment team has offices in London, Paris and Madrid.
Source: Harbert Management Corporation (Europe) LLC
