A portfolio of 17 High Street properties let to Lloyds and TSB banks sold at an average yield of 5.02% as the latest Acuitus auction raised £51.8m from the sale of 66 lots.
The bank properties were entered into the auction by administrators, Zolfo Cooper, and are located throughout the South East and Midlands. Let on leases expiring in 2021 with a tenant’s break in 2016 and combined income of £246,250pa, the properties sold for a total of £4.63m.
Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “The sale of these properties illustrates both the huge appetite that private investors have for good quality assets and also how effective our auction room is for bringing the right buyers together.
“Selling these assets individually today raised more than £1m above the best offer they had attracted previously as a portfolio in the private treaty market. Our auction service connects sellers with asset-hungry private investors and can achieve enhanced results for assets which are being brought out of receivership situations.
“Unless a portfolio is well constructed there is a strong case for assets to be sold individually. Sellers really should not ignore the reach and depth of private equity.
“Of the 33 lots entered into this auction by administrators and receivers all but one sold and at an average price of 30% above guides.”
Overall, the auction reflected a success rate of 85% with an average sale price of over £780,000. The auction also saw David Margolis – who joined Acuitus in the summer – make his debut on the rostrum.
The highest price achieved was £3.75m for a mixed-use investment in London’s Highgate Village. Comprising office, residential, and warehouse space together with a children’s nursery and currently producing £54,000pa, the lot attracted bidders who saw the long-term residential conversion potential. It sold at a yield of 1.36% and more than £1m above its expectation.
Elsewhere in what was Acuitus’s largest auction to date, a freehold supermarket and office investment on Ingatestone High Street in Essex sold for £2.02m at a yield of 6.3% while a restaurant let to Prezzo in Bournemouth sold for £1.13m at a yield of 7.1%.
The sale of office assets accounted for 26% by value of the total raised by the auction and once again highlighted investor demand for regional offices with asset management potential. A 20,524 sq ft office complex in Warrington with residential conversion potential and currently producing £56,796pa sold for £900,000 at a yield of 5.52%.
Richard Auterac comments: “What this auction has shown is that investors will follow quality investments and those with proven asset management potential whatever their location.
“The London market is still tremendously strong but this sale successfully sold properties throughout the country and demonstrated that there is a route to the private investor and property company market for the sellers of all types and geographic locations of property.”
Other sales in the auction included:
The sixth Acuitus auction of 2014 will take place on December 11th at the Millennium Hotel, London W1.
