LondonMetric Property has sold £64.4 million of retail assets at a net initial yield of 4.98% and bought £26.2 million of warehousing at a net initial yield of 6.9%.
In a stock market announcement in which the real estate investment trust declined to say who the buyers, sellers or advisers were, it said the disposals comprise two mature out-of-town retail assets sold for a LondonMetric share of £49.4 million in separate transactions.
The largest is the 71,000-square-foot Cantium retail park in South East London which was sold for £48.5 million with LondonMetric's share at £33.5 million. The park was bought for £38 million in 2022 and is let for a further 12 years primarily to B&Q, Pets at Home and Tapi. LondonMetric said it has has completed its asset management programme, increasing the annual rent from £1.4 million to £2.5 million (£35 per square foot) through re-gears of the B&Q and Pets at Homes leases, and new leases with Tapi, Starbucks, Burger King and InstaVolt.
It has also sold a 40,000-square-foot Marks and Spencer store in Weymouth for £15.9 million. The REIT is developing the store at a yield on cost of 8% with completion expected in March 2026. It is let on a new 15-year lease at an annual rent of £0.9 million and the sale is LondonMetric’s total exit from the three-phased 110,000-square-foot development.
LondonMetric has now sold over £280 million of assets so far this financial year, up from £185 million in September 2025, the REIT said.
The acquisitions comprise two warehouses let to Booker, bought in separate transactions.
The larger is an 159,000-square-foot long let logistics warehouse in South Elmsall, Doncaster, bought for £16.9 million. The property generates an annual rent of £1.2 million and has asset management potential with planning for a further 127,000-square-foot warehouse. The vendor is understood to be Londis Holdings.
It has also bought a 93,000-square-foot Booker Cash & Carry in Southend-on-Sea for £9.25 million. The asset generates an annual rent of £0.7 million and is let for a further four years. The vendor is understood to be Scottish American Investment Company.
Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said in a statement: “Following strong approaches for high quality long income product, we have decided to monetise two mature assets where we have completed on our business plans. Some of the sale proceeds have already been deployed into [triple net] assets at yields c.200 basis points higher and we expect to announce further accretive NNN acquisitions shortly.”