Member Article

Knight Frank Investment Management makes £17m car dealership acquisition

London-based Knight Frank Investment Management has acquired three car dealerships in a deal believed to be around the £17m mark.

The transaction includes facilities for Land Rover, Mazda and Honda in Birmingham, and are let to Lancaster Plc on new 20-year leases, following their acquisition of Colliers Motor Group.

It is the largest car dealership investment to transact this year to date, and the first new generation Land Rover facility to be traded in the investment market.

Matthew McDonald, Fund Manager for LIPUT commented: “We had to act quickly and efficiently to complete this transaction. In addition to the very high quality of the underlying real estate, the opportunity to influence the lease terms to match the fund strategy has provided the opportunity to enhance future income performance”

Adam Chapman, Head of Automotive at Knight Frank commented: “Opportunities of this quality are rare. The transaction demonstrates the continued strong demand from institutional investors for prime automotive stock, and also an emerging trend that the very best assets are increasingly being traded in ‘off market’ transactions”

Knight Frank’s specialist Automotive team advised the purchaser. Bilfinger GVA’s Automotive team acted on behalf of the vendor.

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