Massive Network North property portfolio sold in £42m deal

Columbia Threadneedle has acquired the Network North portfolio from investment and development company Network Space in a deal which will see it buy a Grade A multi-let industrial package with 60 tenants in 17 locations in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

The annual rent roll is £2.85m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.37 per cent and the portfolio is 92 per cent let.

A spokesperson said that most of the assets have been built by the vendor since 2000 and managed in-house by its specialist teams.

The Yorkshire locations in the portfolio included Barnsley, Rotherham, Hull, Sherburn-in- Elmet and Castleford.

Graham Foxton, Partner in Capital Markets at Knight Frank in Leeds, who handled the disposal commented: “The deal is a significant one for the region and shows the strength of the industrial sector in this part of the country.

“The portfolio is a rare commodity given that it comprises 100 per cent industrial buildings of excellent quality. Multi-let industrial is an attractive sector in the country and this proves that the North can - and does - compete with the South”.

Richard Ainscough, Managing Director at Network Space added: “We took the decision to sell these assets so that we can accelerate the speculative development of our new industrial property.

“We will also continue to invest in our asset management platform so that we can continue to get the best out of our retained investments and those of our investor partners. We have an excellent team at Network Space, specialists with a true wealth of experience in the development, investment and management of industrial property.”

Columbia Threadneedle was represented in the acquisition by Garry Howes of Gent Visick and Simon Wood of B8 Real Estate, whilst the Leeds office of global property consultancy Knight Frank represented Network Space.

Columbia Threadneedle declined to comment.

Stephen Woodall of FDR Law acted for Network Space and Addleshaw Goddard acted for Columbia Threadneedle.