Real estate firm drives forward with £250m roadside joint venture
Barkby has entered a joint venture (JV) with a real estate private equity manager to acquire and develop a “substantial portfolio” of roadside real estate assets.
The real estate firm said its partnership with New York and London-based Meadow Partners could create a portfolio worth over £250m.
Barkby, which has been downsizing its pub portfolio in recent months to focus on its roadside business, said in March that it was eyeing real estate investment trust status.
It is set to change its name to Roadside Real Estate, to better reflect its strategy.
The JV will look to deliver a mixture of properties in the drive through, food convenience, trade counter, and logistics markets. It will also look to increase opportunities for electric vehicle charging capabilities.
Under the terms of the arrangement, the portfolio will initially be funded by up to £100m of equity, with the JV targeting a double-digit internal rate of return during the 30 month initial investment period.
Initially, Meadow will own and fund 97% of the JV, whilst Barkby will own and fund 3%, however the latter has an option to increase its holding to 10% during the first 12 months.
Barkby will also progress the appointment of a non-executive chair, meaning current executive chair Charles Dickson will become chief executive.
He said: “We are delighted to be working with Meadow to implement a fully funded strategy to institutionalise a new asset class within the real estate sector. Roadside Real Estate will offer exciting potential for investors and we believe this JV has the opportunity to create a portfolio worth £250 million over time.
“Having successfully developed a small number of roadside sites which have proven our concept, we will seek to rapidly convert our acquisition pipeline to create value for shareholders and our joint venture partner, whilst delivering valuable community amenities – not least increased access to electric vehicle charging.”