Supermarket Income REIT has finalised the purchase of three major UK supermarkets for a combined price of £97.6 million. The deal, which involves stores in Aylesbury, Sale and Frimley, was completed at an average net initial yield of 5.5 per cent.

The largest of the three acquisitions is a Tesco in Aylesbury, bought for £56.3 million. This 11.2-acre site includes a 110,000 sq ft supermarket that has been a fixture in the community for over four decades. The property features a petrol station and space for 15 home delivery vans. It is held on a triple-net lease with 11 years remaining and includes annual RPI-linked rent reviews.

In an off-market transaction, the company also picked up a Sainsbury’s in Sale for £33.8 million. This 4.4-acre site has been home to the retailer for 29 years and features a 60,000 sq ft store. The lease has 16 years left to run and includes annual inflation-linked rent increases.

The third property is a Waitrose in Frimley, acquired for £7.6 million. The 1.3-acre site houses a 30,000 sq ft store that has operated for more than 25 years. This site supports five delivery vans and includes a Click & Collect facility. Its lease runs for another 11 years with five-yearly CPI-linked reviews.

These purchases were funded using the firm’s existing debt facility. Following these deals, the company expects its pro-forma loan-to-value ratio to sit at 43 per cent, with a portfolio weighted average unexpired lease term of 12 years.

Rob Abraham, CEO of Supermarket Income REIT, commented:

“The acquisitions come at the end of a transformational year for SUPR, where we delivered on key strategic objectives, including lease renewals, internalisation, our debut bond issuance and changes to our listing. We established and scaled our strategic joint venture with Blue Owl Capital Managed Funds, enabling us to execute on an attractive pipeline of assets whilst receiving management fee income on stores transferred into the JV. We are on track to have recycled approximately £400 million of capital this year into an exciting range of acquisitions across the various channels in our earnings accretive pipeline. We continue to see further opportunities ahead and look forward to continuing to grow the business as we cement our position as the leading landlord to grocery tenants.”