The Schroders Capital real estate team, acting on behalf of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), has acquired a 59-bed, best-in-class care home in southwest London for £14.2 million.
This deal marks the fifth acquisition for GMPF “over the past 12 months, with investments totaling £130m generating an attractive average yield based on the gross acquisition prices of over 6.0%.”
The acquisitions successfully recycle proceeds “from the sale of 3-8 Whitehall Place, a 95,000 sq ft office in London for £155.25 million in July 2022, which reflected a net initial yield of 3.5%.”
The sale of Whitehall Place and efficient redeployment has allowed GMPF to capitalize on the “cyclical buying opportunity in the UK commercial real estate market, following a price correction of approximately 25% between June 2022 and June 2024.”
The Schroders Capital team has acquired real estate in higher growth markets that have repriced, “providing a blend of more defensive, long dated, inflation-proof income, as well as value-add strategies to be implemented by its specialist active asset management teams in London and Manchester.”
The five acquisitions are diversified across UK regions and real estate sectors such as living, industrials and offices, including:
- Murieston Crescent, Edinburgh: 120-bedroom, best-in-class Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) asset located in one of Edinburgh’s PBSA hubs.
- Brackmills Central Industrial Estate, Northampton: 273,000 sq ft multi-let industrial asset situated in the golden triangle.
- Volkswagen Car Showroom, Brentford: 192,000 sq ft flagship UK dealership located within London’s motor mile.
- 10 Victoria Street, Bristol: Best-in-class, 47,000 sq ft office building located on Finzel’s Reach in Bristol city centre.
- Sherwood Grange Care Home, Kingston-upon-Thanes: 59-bed, best-in-class care home leased to Care UK in an affluent south London suburb.
Philip Scott, Fund Manager for GMPF at Schroders Capital, said:
“Exiting 3-8 Whitehall Place at the peak of the market in the summer of 2022 has provided a fantastic opportunity to capitalise on the cyclical buying opportunity in the UK commercial real estate sector with our reinvestment strategy. Over the past 12 months, we have deployed the sales proceeds into our key conviction sectors and significantly boosted both income and total returns from the portfolio. We have significant further funds to invest in 2025 and look forward to building on this momentum.”
Schroders Capital’s real estate business is “a strategically important growth area, with the team currently managing over $27.31 billion of assets in a range of strategies across 16 markets globally.”
Its UK Real Estate team has a track-record, with “over 50 years of experience and deep expertise spanning active investment and portfolio management as well as asset operations.”
Schroders Capital provides investors with access to “a broad range of private market investment opportunities, portfolio building blocks and customized private market strategies.”
Its team focuses on delivering “risk-adjusted returns and executing investments through a combination of direct investment capabilities and broader solutions in all private market asset classes, through comingled funds and customized private market mandates.”
The team aims to achieve sustainable returns through “a rigorous approach and in alignment with a culture characterized by performance, collaboration and integrity.”