Palmer Capital Shops Direct into Liverpool

Palmer Capital is delighted to announce the acquisition of Skyways House, Speke, Liverpool for a price in excess of £30m, reflecting a net initial yield of c.7%.

The asset comprises:

• Skyways House, a 115,982 sq. ft. state of art, BCO award winning office building.
• Skyways 2, a 69,339 sq. ft., purpose built office building.
• A purpose built, stand-alone data centre comprising 8,994 sq. ft.

The entire property is fully let to Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited on a 20 year FRI lease. The site sits within a prominent location in Estuary Park, which was established in 1998 and is recognised in the North West as a premier location for a variety of business occupiers. The property is the headquarters campus for the Shop Direct Group that is the second largest online pure play retailer in the UK behind Amazon. The property has been acquired on behalf of a Middle Eastern client of Palmer Capital, who has significant capacity for similar projects. Rupert Sheldon, Fund Manager at Palmer Capital commented:

“We are thrilled to have secured a post Brexit acquisition of this nature which perfectly reflects our investment strategy of investing in high quality buildings, on long leases with fixed uplifts, let to strong covenants to deliver our investors attractive, low risk income returns.”

Charles Allen, Acquisition Director at Palmer Capital commented:

“We believe with post Brexit price adjustments, a favourable currency position, low cost of debt and with our investors having a long term view on the UK real estate market it presents a compelling opportunity”

Palmer Capital were advised by CBRE. Shops Direct were advised by Fineman Ross and Cushman & Wakefield.