Trio of supermarkets snapped up for £100m

Israeli capital fund MDSR Investments has acquired three supermarket properties from Aviva Investors for approximately £100m.

The assets consist of two Morrisons stores in Milton Keynes and Leigh, and a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Sutton.

The three properties have an average lease length of around 19 years and inflation-proofed rents.

Mark Girling, partner at Montagu Evans, which acted for Aviva, said: Blending a range of geographies, lease lengths, rental levels, and credit strengths, this £100m transaction was structured to include a 5-month delayed completion, which occurred just before Christmas, allowing our client to take advantage of additional rental income.

“The blended effective net initial yield of around 6.25% represents an attractive result for Aviva Investors in the prevailing market, whilst providing the purchaser with a long, attractive, indexed income profile.”

Marcus Wood, head of retail and leisure investment at Cushman & Wakefield, which advised MDSR Investments, added: “Despite the headwinds in the wider UK investment market, the grocery sector offers liquidity to vendors and attractive income profiles to investors.”