en.Wedoany.com Reported - UK property company Segro has announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to establish a new logistics real estate joint venture in the UK with an unnamed international institutional investor. The joint venture, valued at approximately £3 billion (€3.5 billion), will be equally owned by both parties and will focus on the UK market.

The joint venture aims to develop and operate three large logistics parks in the UK, which are expected to provide a total of approximately 925,000 square meters of space upon full completion. The three parks are located in Radlett (Hertfordshire), Coventry (West Midlands), and Northampton (East Midlands). They currently have 225,000 square meters of leased warehouse space and include 380 acres (approximately 154 hectares) of developable land. All three parks are connected to London via the M1 motorway and will be sold to the joint venture at an agreed price of approximately £1 billion (€1.17 billion).

The development of these parks will be phased, with delivery expected by 2030. Future capital expenditure required to complete the development of all parks is approximately £820 million (€961 million). In a statement, Segro said funding is expected to come from partner equity and third-party non-recourse debt at the joint venture level. The company also noted that the parties have only reached an agreement in principle, and the final completion of the transaction is subject to the completion of due diligence and final approval.

David Sleath, CEO of Segro Plc, stated in the announcement that this new strategic partnership allows the company to consolidate some of the UK's most attractive logistics parks into a low-cost structure, thereby enhancing its investment capacity and demonstrating the strength of its asset management platform.

Notably, this announcement came shortly after Segro rejected a takeover offer made to its board by Prologis on June 16. After being "unanimously and unequivocally rejected" by Segro, US logistics real estate giant Prologis made the offer public on June 24. The offer valued Segro at £12.6 billion (€14.75 billion).

In its response, Segro considered this attempt by its US counterpart as "opportunistic," primarily stemming from its share price being undervalued due to the Middle East conflict, and failing to account for the attractiveness of its business and future prospects. Prologis subsequently released an investor presentation on June 30, detailing the rationale for the proposed merger and the value it could create for shareholders. Prologis noted that its total shareholder return over the past five years was 38.6%, while Segro's had fallen by 20.1%.