Owner of Team Valley bought in £425m deal
MOVE SEEN AS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN PROPERTY MARKET
THE owner of Team Valley Trading Estate and other industrial parks across the North East has been bought by one of the world’s largest property investors.
GIC, which managers Singapore’s foreign reserves, has purchased UK Land Estates for £425m in a highly significant property deal for the region.
It means GIC, which owns property across the globe, will have a majority stake in the North East portfolio which includes Team Valley, Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate and Teesside Estate as well as other locations.
GIC replaces UK Land Estates’ former US-based joint venture partners Northwood, which owned a stake in the North East property portfolio since 2014. The move is seen as a big vote of confidence in the North East commercial property market and with huge investment capacity, it is hoped GIC will help to grow the North East business.
Earlier this year GIC – which was set up in the early 1980s to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves – bought 75% of British Land’s Paddington Central property for £694m. And in 2021 the investor made one of the largest European industrial estate transactions ever when it acquired 132 logistics properties totalling 2.2 million sqm from EQT Exeter for $3bn.
UK Land Estates itself has continued to invest in recent months, most recently with work underway on a £4.5m speculative industrial scheme at Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate which will provide 4,485 sqm of space for a range of occupiers.
The firm was set up by Chris Whitfield in 1990 with just a single unit in Ryton. It has since grown to become 28 estates across the region, including its three largest – Team Valley Trading Estate, Tyne Tunnel Industrial Estate and Teesside Estate – which are home to some 800 businesses.
UK Land Estates also has a developments team that specialises in regeneration of brownfield sites on its estates, and has built properties to specification for businesses as well as speculative projects.