GFH FinancialGroup (GFH) on Saturday reported that its UK subsidiary, Roebuck Asset Management (Roebuck), has concluded an off-market deal of Accolade Park to Tritax big Box Plc for $123 million.
Accolade Park is the main logistics center in the UK involving 875,000 sq ft situated in Avonmouth that is the principal logistics and manufacturing area for the South West of the country, revolving around the Port of Bristol.
The deal denotes the end of a very fruitful period for Roebuck, who gained the resource for $84 million in May 2017 on behalf of a consortium of institutional Korean investors. The vigorous pay and critical worth increment furnished the investors with a post-tax IRR of 20 percent+, well in advance of the target business plan for such a main resource.
During the hold period, Roebuck has finished various acquisitions with Korean and other Asian institutional investors putting into fundamentally strategic coordinations resources across Europe including Tesco’s Avonmouth Distribution Center, in the UK, which they acquired for $102 million, GP Logistic Centre in Spain, which was acquired for $96 million and Amazon’s Fulfillment Center in Prague, Czech Republic, which was obtained for $165 million in 2019 and the Amazon Last Mile three resources portfolio in Spain which was acquired for $100 million in 2020.
GFH obtained a majority stake in Roebuck, which keeps on working independently, in December 2020 having its investments in these strategic resources. With the Group’s sponsorship, Roebuck is set to execute huge development plans for 2021. Together, GFH and Roebuck are set to execute huge development plans for 2021. Together, GFH and Roebuck are working on over €1.0 billion new third-party mandates.
Mainly Roebuck is using its local market skills and significant track record to uplift a European Logistics focused fund in the Core + sector, which is to be launched towards the end of 2021 and made available to Roebuck’s and GFH’s investor base.
Commenting, Nael Mustafa, Board Member at Roebuck Asset Management and Co-Chief Investment Officer at GFH, said: “We’re pleased to announce this important exit by Roebuck of one of the prime logistics assets in the portfolio. The strategy to sell Accolade Park is in line with Roebuck’s plans. Mainly, to acquire core and core-plus logistics assets, add value through execution of asset management initiatives, and exit within a medium-term. The solid returns achieved on this sale are indicative of the strength of Roebuck and its team is exactly why GFH acquired the business in December 2020, adding significant expertise to our European commercial real estate offering. We look forward to announcing new transactions in this space and offering investors the opportunity to benefit from positive trends in the UK and European logistics, a segment of the market showing solid fundamentals and continued prospects for growth.”
Nick Rhodes of Roebuck Asset Management said: “Our investment in Accolade Park has performed very well over the investment term, delivering significantly above our anticipated investment returns. We acquired the asset in 2017 and along with the asset management initiatives we have undertaken, the market for quality, well let logistics assets has improved exponentially. As a micro-location, Avonmouth has also witnessed a period of significant growth, with considerable development in both infrastructure and new warehouse space, to match occupier demand. We consider this a critical milestone for Roebuck and confirmation of its abilities in the logistics sector and plan to build on this and our extensive track record to launch our first fund in European logistics in the later part of 2021.”
