Supermarket real estate trust acquires two “key”stores for £55m, including first Asda

Supermarket Income REIT PLC (SUPR), the real estate investment trust providing “secure, inflation-protected, long income” from grocery property in the UK, has announced the acquisition of two supermarkets.

These two acquisitions are a Sainsbury’s in Washington, Tyne and Wear, and an Asda in Cwmbran, South Wales, for a total purchase price of £55.1m (excluding acquisition costs), reflecting a combined net initial yield of 5.3 per cent.

The Washington supermarket, which was originally developed in 1977 and extensively refurbished by Sainsbury’s in 2011, comprises a 83,800 sq ft net sales area omnichannel supermarket, a 24-pump petrol filling station, and purpose-built online fulfilment docks.

The store forms a key part of Sainsbury’s online fulfilment operations across the region. The 11.7 acre site has provision for 800 car parking spaces and is prominently located in the town centre directly adjacent to the Galleries Shopping Centre.

The Asda store in Cwmbran, which represents SUPR’s first Asda acquisition, comprises a 81,600 sq ft net sales area omnichannel supermarket located on a prominent 4.4 acre site adjacent to Cwmbran Shopping Centre with access to over 740 car parking spaces.

Asda has been trading on the site since the 1970s, with the current store developed in 2015 to form a modern supermarket which is currently undergoing further expansion to incorporate new purpose-built online fulfilment docks. The store will form a key part of Asda’s online fulfilment operations across the region.

It is being acquired with an unexpired lease term of 10 years, with 5-yearly, upwards only, open market rent reviews.

Ben Green, director of Atrato Capital Limited, the investment advisor to SUPR, said: “These acquisitions are strong additions to Supermarket Income REIT’s growing portfolio of omnichannel stores and in combination are accretive to both the weighted average unexpired lease term and net initial yield of the company’s portfolio.

“In addition, the Asda acquisition provides further tenant diversification for the portfolio.”

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