Ellandi has agreed to acquire competitor Lathe Investments that will result in a combined portfolio under management of nearly £300 million, comprising 11 value-oriented and convenience schemes.
Lathe, a longstanding successful investor, fund and asset manager in the same sector. Lathe has a portfolio consisting of The Ladysmith Shopping Centre in Ashton-under-Lyne and The Castlegate Shopping Centre in Stockton-on-Tees, Lathe has also recently exchanged on a third scheme with a new source of equity. In aggregate the Lathe portfolio has a value of ca. £70 million.
Lathe Managing Director Richard Tanner said: "The combination of Lathe and Ellandi will maximize our ability to take advantage of the exciting opportunities that will present themselves in 2014 and beyond."
Morgan Garfield, founding Partner of Ellandi added: "Lathe has a long term, successful track record of establishing and administering funds and joint ventures, as well as asset managing some 30 schemes, in the UK and abroad. We have a complementary approach and the addition of the Lathe team will greatly assist with the next stage of Ellandi's growth. The deal was agreed on New Year's Day which is a great way to start the year. We are all very excited about the prospects for 2014 and the coming years."
The move will see a restructuring at Ellandi with Morgan becoming Managing Director, fellow Ellandi founder Mark Robinson taking the role of Property Director and Richard taking the role of Finance Director.
Mark Robinson added: "This move establishes us as one of the UK leading pure play shopping centre investment managers, with a unique focus on value-oriented and convenience schemes. It gives us huge possibilities to leverage our portfolio expertise and complementary resource skill-sets whilst still promoting the individual schemes as the heart of their communities."
The portfolio includes 11 shopping centers amounting to 2.8 million ft² of commercial space.
The Lathe team will be moving to Ellandi's central London office, with effect from February 3.
Ellandi will continue to manage real estate investments on behalf of their joint venture partners that now include Angelo Gordon, Chenevari, Development Securities, Rockspring PIM, Tristan Capital and Redleaf.
The acquisition strategy for 2014 is to deploy the balance of the £120 million Ellandi Retail Fund that recently acquired Market Gates in Great Yarmouth, in addition to pursuing larger opportunities of over £50 million with existing partners.
Source: Ellandi
