Property group gets prime sites in £7m deal

Aug 29 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL property company Maghull Group has spent almost £7m on the purchase of two prime commercial office investments, adding 40,000 sq ft to its portfolio.

With backing from the Bank of Ireland, Maghull has completed the acquisition of the V7 property at King’s Business Park in Knowsley, which comprises 35,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, and 5,000 sq ft in Rodney Street.

The V7 unit was acquired from Threadneedle Fund Management. Whitaker Horton acted for the Fund and Mason Owen acted for Maghull. The property is let to US computer giant Computer Sciences Corporation who have occupied the premises since 2004.

Maghull has also completed the purchase of 26 Rodney Street for £950,000 which further strengthens the group’s presence in the Hope Street area of the city. The property is currently occupied by NHS Merseycare, and the purchase reflects a net investment yield of sub five per cent.

Mason Owen acted for the vendor and Maghull Group represented itself in this transaction.

Andy Owen, from Mason Owen, said: “These acquisitions represent positive and forward-thinking action by Maghull Group, whose presence is increasingly being felt across the Merseyside commercial investment market. Maghull Group has acquired the V7 property, in particular, because of the increasing requirement for high quality out of town office space and subsequent increase in rents for Grade A office accommodation in Merseyside.

A purchase price of £6m reflects a net initial yield of 7.1%, proving this purchase to be another shrewd investment by Maghull.”

Chief executive of the Maghull Group Michael Hanlon added: “These acquisitions will complement our portfolio which now comprises in excess of 750,000 sq ft of retail, office and leisure investments in Merseyside and Greater Manchester.”

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk