B&Q marks up mega-shed sale
Estates Gazette 26.08.2006
B&Q is preparing to sell its recently completed super-shed in Worksop as part of its strategy to recycle capital.
The DIY giant's real estate arm B&Q Properties is preparing to appoint agents to conduct a sale-and-leaseback of the 875,000 sq ft shed, which has planning permission for expansion up to 1.1m sq ft. The shed is expected to fetch more than £65m.
The Nottinghamshire sale is part of around £300m of sale-and-leasebacks that B&Q parent Kingfisher UK plans to carry out each year to release capital for further acquisitions in the UK and abroad.
David Childs, director of B&Q Properties, said the company was in discussions on a further £50m-worth of sales and acquisitions, which it hoped to complete before the end of its financial year in January.
Last month B&Q completed the sale-and-leaseback of seven B&Q Warehouses - its 100,000 sq ft-plus stores - to British Land for £198m.
B&Q agreed 20-year, RPI-linked leases across all the stores, with an option to break after 15 years.
Prudential Property Investment Management has sold its 71,000 sq ft B&Q Warehouse at Gallows Corner in Romford, Essex, to Arlington Securities for £29.8m - a 4.25% yield. The property is let to B&Q for a further 15 years and has an outstanding rent review from July. HP Four advised Arlington; Wilkinson Williams acted for PruPIM.
