US real estate investment firm acquires two sites in Northern England for £11m

The US-based real estate investment firm has added to its UK logistics portfolio with two acquisitions in Peterlee, County Durham and Pickering, North Yorkshire.

The properties were acquired in a single 285,000 sq ft transaction by The Ardent Companies for approximately £11m, representing a net initial yield of 7 per cent.

Ardent’s logistics portfolio now totals 1.7m sq ft across 14 different strategic locations across the UK, and the team continues to seek out value-add opportunities in multiple sectors including industrial and retail.

The assets in Peterlee and Pickering are fully let to specialist automotive manufacturers and offer a weighted average unexpired lease term of approximately 12.5 years.

The 50,124 sq ft facility in Peterlee, strategically located on the town’s North Industrial Estate close to the major A19, with Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the north and Leeds to the south. The main building is fully occupied by the global technology company ZF International UK LTD, which has been the main tenant for over 19 years.

The 234,685 sq ft facility in Pickering, North Yorkshire, consists of three detached buildings across a large industrial scheme which vary in size and age. The tenant Xandor Automotive, alongside its client Jaguar Land Rover, has recently injected significant investment into plant and machinery at the facility.

Richard Benson, managing director of Ardent, said: “These acquisitions perfect align with our strategy to assemble a diverse portfolio of opportunity-led investments. Both assets benefit from offering bespoke, high-specification facilities that serve the needs of cutting-edge automotive operators.

“These two new deals in the portfolio underline our appetite to grow Ardent’s industrial platform in the UK, particularly opportunity-led investments.”