The purchase consists of three freehold assets occupied by cash-and-carry operator Makro on a 15-year lease. They include Makro Spain’s HQ in Paseo Imperial, a newly rebuilt Makro store in Barajas and a Makro store in Alcobendas.

The three assets comprise a total GLA of 30,000 m2.

‘We strongly believe in the future of these three urban locations over the next 15 to 30 years and there is long-term upside potential, due to several large-scale development projects in the neighbouring areas,’ said David Ironside, investment manager of Encore+ at LaSalle Investment Management.

Value increase
The sale of the real estate portfolio in Spain is part of Metro Properties’ global portfolio strategy, the company said. Wolfgang Baumgartinger, director transactions of Metro Properties, commented: ‘Some of the real estate values are now at point in their life cycle where we can realize their value increase.’

‘The assets will be maintained as cash and carry stores whilst they are central to Makro’s Spanish portfolio. LaSalle Investment is benefitting from both Metro Properties’ successful developments and from Makro Spain being a premium operator,’ he concluded.

Higher-yielding assets
Encore+ has a gross asset value of €1.7 bn and was recently recognised as the best performing fund in the IPD PEPFI for 2017, LaSalle said.

Jeffrey King, fund manager of Encore+ at Aviva Investors, explained: ‘The acquisition is part of our strategy to purchase higher yielding assets and increase the fund’s exposure to logistics. The combination of its urban location, combined with the sector and aggregate lot size, makes this a good fit for the fund.’

‘The portfolio is let to an occupier with a strong covenant and is an attractive lot size in terms of investment liquidity,’ King added.