International law firm CMS has advised RDI REIT PLC, the income focused UK real estate investment trust (RDI), on the disposal of its UK retail parks portfolio comprising six assets to M7 Real Estate Limited for £156.9 million.
Located across the UK, the six assets are Banbury Cross Retail Park (Banbury), St David’s Retail Park (Bangor), Milton Road Retail Park (Edinburgh), Queens Drive Retail Park, (Kilmarnock), and Priory Retail Park, Merton and The Arches, Watford (both London).
RDI is an established UK REIT focused on delivering long term sustainable income returns backed by strong real estate fundamentals. Its portfolio, currently valued at £1.3bn, is increasingly focused on sectors and assets benefiting from structural change and strong occupier demand including the distribution and industrial sector as well as its market leading hotel and London serviced office operating platforms.
The disposal represents a significant milestone in the ongoing repositioning of RDI’s portfolio and the company’s aim to reduce its exposure to the retail sector. The transaction, which follows RDI’s recently announced disposal of the Schloss Strassen Center in Berlin, Germany, is expected to be completed in mid-October 2020.
Howard Gill, Corporate partner at CMS, comments: “We are pleased to have assisted our long-standing client RDI on this significant deal, which represents a key part of the company’s strategy and realignment of its asset portfolio.”
Stephen Oakenfull, COO at RDI, says: “This transaction marks a substantial step forward in the implementation of our portfolio strategy in a short space of time and against a challenging backdrop. It has been a pleasure to work with the CMS team who, as ever, have offered invaluable advice and support throughout the deal.”
The CMS team was led by Howard Gill and included Matthew Davies, James Kay, Shadi Ameli-Avehchi, Nick Burt, Tim Dobbing and Derin Ulph.
