Ares heads north for £110m off-market buy

It is one of the biggest ever industrial deals to sign in Scotland

  • What Canmoor and JCAM have sold Westway Park, Renfrew
  • Why Scottish industrial estate, fresh from securing over 425,000 sq ft of lettings and regears last year, has been bought by Ares
  • What next Site to benefit from significant infrastructure investment as part of Glasgow City Deal

Canmoor and joint venture partner JCAM have agreed an off-market deal to sell one of Scotland’s largest industrial and logistics parks for close to £110m, React News can reveal.

Ares Management has concluded the purchase of Westway Park, a 1.6m sq ft estate located near Glasgow International Airport in Renfrew. Canmoor will be retained as asset manager.

It represents a successful exit for Canmoor and JCAM, after the partners bought the asset for £40m in 2018, and one of the biggest ever industrial sales to take place in Scotland.

Canmoor and JCAM enhanced park with significant capex

Since acquiring Westway, the partners committed more than £12m to building refurbishment and infrastructure improvements across the park, including £3m in the refurbishment of D Block.

Over the course of last year, 425,000 sq ft of lettings and re-gears were completed at Westway, marking the park out as one of the strongest industrial and distribution locations in Scotland. The current occupancy level is understood to be north of 90%.

Steder Group, the global logistics service provider, recently signed up for 60,000 sq ft of logistics space at the newly refurbished Block D on a ten-year lease.

Other key occupiers at Westway include Doosan Babcock, AMG Group, JW Filshill, Malin Fabrication, the NHS, Strathclyde University, Renewable Parts, and National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

Located in Renfrew, Westway is a key strategic industrial and distribution location that offers connectivity to central Scotland via junction 27 of the M8.

Glasgow Airport Investment area

It is located in the heart of the Glasgow Airport Investment area, which is one of the key City Deal projects that will benefit from £39.1m of inward investment over the next ten years.

This will deliver significant infrastructure investment to the area including a new two-lane bridge over the White Cart, directly linking Westway with the investment area and airport, which is scheduled to open later this year.

JLL advised Canmoor and JCAM. TT&G Partners acted for Ares.

All parties declined to comment.

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