Archimedes Buys Seven Assets to Double Portfolio

26th January 2015 – The multi-let UK regional office park joint venture formed by M7 Real Estate and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management has acquired seven assets for £12.2 million, to double the size of its portfolio to £25 million.

Archimedes Real Estate Investment Sarl acquired the properties spread across England from six separate vendors, including Dunedin, the Homes & Communities Agency and Allianz. The assets, located in Cambourne, Hemel Hempsted, Altrincham, Wakefield, Leeds, Durham and South Shields, comprise 183,000 sq ft of space, 23% of which currently lies vacant. Archimedes already owned seven assets providing 200,000 sq ft of space.

Matthew Cheyne, Head of UK Asset Management at M7, said: “These acquisitions continue the expansion of Archimedes. We see an opportunity to lift the portfolio’s rental income and capital value as our refurbishment programme and other asset management initiatives bring neglected and unlettable space up to standard.”

Archimedes is the second joint venture formed by Oaktree and M7 following the acquisition of the EHI portfolio in Denmark in 2013. It has an initial investment target of £100 million focused on smaller, higher-yielding regional UK business parks let mainly to small and medium-sized enterprises. The JV currently has a further £20 million of assets under offer and expects to reach a GAV of £60 million by the end of Q1.

Agents that acted for Archimedes include Knight Frank, GVA, Brasier Freeth and Lexicon Cole.