Midlands-based IM Properties (IMP) is gearing up for growth, after selling a £200m industrial portfolio to Malaysia’s state pension scheme.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) via CBRE Global Investors was keen to take a stake in the region’s logistics and distribution sectors, after a strong upturn in those markets over the last two years.
CBRE acted on behalf of IM Properties on the sale. The portfolio is dominated by industrial assets across Greater Birmingham, including Birch Coppice Business Park, near Tamworth, Solihull Business Park off the M42 and The Hub, Witton,in central Birmingham.
IMP’s managing director, Tim Wooldridge, says the value of those schemes has been driven upward by the strength of the region’s automotive sector, and its long-term appeal to logistics and distribution companies.
“JLR has grabbed the headlines in recent years, with its £1.5 billion investment programme at the i54 engine plant on the outskirts of Wolverhampton and its production plants at Castle Bromwich and Solihull,” he says.
“Often, the focus is purely on the jobs which are created, but there is also a huge boost for its supply chain, and the firms which in turn supply those companies. These businesses need quality space, typically within an hour’s drive of JLR’s plants, and that demand has driven up the value of our industrial assets.
“At the same time, the ever-growing internet shopping sector has made retailers and their distributors look for space nearer to the region’s major population centres.
“We have always been opportunistic in our approach to deal-making, and thought it the ideal time to test the market for our industrial portfolio. If solid interest was there, and at a strong price, we could generate a significant cash pile for acquisitions and expansion during 2016.
“When economies start to slow, most people just sit on their hands and wait to see what happens, but we pride ourselves on being fleet-of-foot, and thought there would be value opportunities for cash buyers.
“Some of the money will go into our existing development pipeline, some will be used to acquire income-generating assets, and after that it’s a question of identifying potential acquisitions which are available at value prices.
“We’re open-minded, as always, about which sector we will invest it, and we could even go back into the industrial sector. If we spot the right opportunity, and the value is there, the sector is almost irrelevant.
“Geography isn’t crucial either, but because we are based close to Birmingham, most of our asset purchases tend to be in the South or the Midlands, and that approach is likely to continue.”
IM Propeties, based in Coleshill, is one of the largest privately owned property groups in the UK, with an investment and development portfolio of circa. £900 milliom across the UK, Europe and US.