Dubai: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) provided Dh200 million to finance Middle East investors purchase of Tesco and Waitrose supermarket assets in the UK.
The first transaction was carried out by Kuwait Business Town Real Estate company for a Tesco Extra store in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The second transaction comprises a purpose-built supermarket, which extends to over 34,000 square feet in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, owned by Capital Trust. The building is leased to Waitrose until May 2045.
“Our clients have a strong appetite to acquire UK assets, particularly those benefitting from long-dated income offering good income visibility underpinned by strong tenant covenants and providing attractive cash on cash yields,” said Paul Maisfield, Head of UK Real Estate at ADIB. “Our expertise on the ground is proving an attractive proposition to our Middle East clients, which is driving growth of the UK business and has established ADIB as a leading player in the UK Islamic commercial real estate financing sector.”
According to Savills, the UK supermarket sector saw investment volumes reach approximately 1.5 billion pounds in 2020. Olga Aburdene, CEO of Capital Trust, said: “We are pleased to receive the continuous support of ADIB that has allowed us to maximise the shareholder returns while pursuing our strategy for this asset.”
This year, ADIB has closed over Dh750 million in senior financing transactions, including Dh260 million for a major Saudi investor to acquire the PWC headquarters in Belfast.ADIB has closed over Dh750 million in senior financing transactions this year
