Stainton International has established a £150 million (approx. €175.5 million) joint venture with an international alternative investment fund.
The joint venture, which is ungeared, will seek opportunistic property acquisitions and portfolios of £10 million (approx. €11.7 million) to £100 million (approx. €117 million). It will focus on the UK, but will also consider deals in Western Europe.
The joint venture has made its first acquisition. In just 10 working days it exchanged contracts to buy a 230,000 ft² (approx. 21,370 m²) distribution facility on 11.5 acres in the south east for £17 million (approx. €19.9 million), reflecting an initial yield of 10.5%.
Hugo Jackson, CEO of Stainton, which has co-invested in the joint venture, said: “We feel it is an opportune time to be investing in the UK property market.
“We would like to invest the initial £150 million (approx. €175.5 million) within 15 months. As our first purchase showed, we offer vendors certainty and speed”.
Stainton is this year celebrating its 15th year in business. It is just concluding its Stainton Capital Holdings joint venture with Lehman Brothers and HBOS, which acquired several portfolios and buildings over a period of 10 years.
In 2011, Stainton, in a joint venture with Rawa Real Estate Company, bought Chapel Quarter in Nottingham from Royal London Asset Management's Scottish Life Fund for £18 million (approx. €21.1 million) representing a yield of 8.75%.
Chapel Quarter is a 145,000 ft² (approx. 13,470 m²) mixed-use island scheme, comprising four floors of offices, six shops and a 120-bed Holiday Inn Express.
Stainton has also been busy in Aberdeen over the last year, selling four properties out of the Stainton Capital Holdings joint venture.
The deals continued Stainton’s long association with the Scottish city. The company has bought 20 office and industrial properties in Aberdeen over the past 10 years.
Notable among the Aberdeen transactions has been St Magnus House in Guild Street. Stainton first bought the 80,175 ft² (approx. 7,450 m²) office building in 2003 for £13.5 million (approx. €15.8 million), sold it in 2007 for £23.7 million (approx. €27.7 million) and then bought it for a second time in 2012 for BA Pension Fund for £18.25 million (approx. €21.36 million).
Also notable is Talisman House, a 96,000 ft² (approx. 8,920 m²) office building at 163 Holburn Street that was acquired in 2005 for £20.6 million (approx. €24.1 million) and sold two years later for £28.7 million (approx. €33.6 million).
In 2013 Stainton bought New Telecom House for FORE Partnership, the private investment club for family offices, part of the Cording Group, for £9.25 million, reflecting an initial yield of 9.8%
New Telecom House is a 77,000 ft² (approx. 7,153 m²) office building adjacent to Aberdeen’s main railway station and Hammerson’s £250 million (approx. €292.5 million) Union Square shopping centre. BT is the building’s main tenant.
Source: Stainton International
