DARTFORD, ENGLAND-Employer’s Provident Fund of Malaysia has purchased a distribution center here for $131 million. The almost 700,000-square-foot property includes three warehouses, and includes supermarket chain Sainsbury as its main tenant.
European Property Investors Special Opportunities LP, a fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners and AEW Europe, was the seller. Ric Lewis, CEO of Tristan, said in a statement that the property, developed by ProLogis, was the first UK site purchased by the fund for $101 million in 2009.
“This deal is a great example of the fund’s opportunistic investment strategy, as it bought close to the market’s cycle and then sold it on to an institutional investor who was attracted to the long lease and secure income profile,” he said. Yearly income from the property is about $8.6 million, Lewis said in the statement.
Sainsbury completed a $41 million renovation of the center, and has leases on the site until 2027. The property is one of the retailer’s main distribution hubs.
The buyer is a Malaysia-run agency fund worth about $112 billion, and operates under the country’s Ministry of Finance. Membership in the savings and retirement fund is mandatory for Malaysian citizens. For the past year the fund has been buying more than $1.6 billion in the United Kingdom, and this purchase is reportedly the fund’s first investment in England that is outside of London.
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