Aerium, the European real estate fund manager, has announced the sale of a portfolio of 14 petrol station convenience stores to clients of Investra Capital, a private equity real estate investor and asset manager, for £30.9m (€42.7m).
Located across the UK on prominent arterial roads, the freehold assets are let to the Co-operative Group on a WAULT of 12.1 years, generating a rent of approx. £2m (€2.7m) per annum and benefiting from fixed annual rental uplifts of 2%. The Co-operative Group and Petrogra operate the associated filling stations and with the petrol supplied by Chevron Texaco.
Aerium have carried out significant improvements on the portfolio: eight of the properties have recently been totally redeveloped whilst one has been extended and five refurbished to provide modern forecourt convenience formats.
Robin Carr, fund director at ÆRIUM, said: “This is a high quality portfolio with a strong covenant and the benefit of fixed annual rental uplifts, which will continue to be a sound investment asset whilst also delivering good quality long term income.”
The buyer is a client of Commercial Bank Qatar, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Nasser Al-Thani, and was advised by Investra Capital.
Martin Waller, UK Managing Director of Investra, said:
“We have seen strong interest from our Gulf Investors, particularly for medium to long-let assets spread across the UK Market.”
ÆRIUM was advised on this transaction by Gerald Eve LLP.
