Retail investment house acquire northern Wickes stores

Two prominent Wickes stores in Barnsley and Oldham have been acquired by retail investment house, LondonMetric Property.

The 25,000 sq ft Oldham store and 25,900 sq ft Barnsley store are part of a portfolio of five warehouse units purchased from Aberdeen Asset Management.

The deal is through LondonMetric’s Metric Income Plus Limited Partnership (“MIPP”), a £150m joint venture with Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

MIPP will use its £75 million loan facility to finance the purchase which will produce an average cash-on-cash return of c. 10% per annum.

Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said: “This off-market acquisition underlines the strength of our retail relationships both in the investment and occupational market.

“We are already in detailed discussions with Wickes to materially extend the unexpired lease terms and progress various development initiatives, in partnership with them.

“The acquisition of these units is consistent with MIPP’s robust metrics of full occupancy, long unexpired lease terms and a strong yield on cost of c. 7.25%.”