Roadside Real Estate JV agrees acquisition of 12 Lidl stores

Roadside Real Estate announced on Monday that its joint venture with Meadow Real Estate Fund VI, Roadside Retail, has signed an agreement to acquire 12 stores from Lidl Great Britain for £70m.

The AIM-traded firm said the joint venture, set up to acquire and develop UK roadside real estate assets, would purchase the Lidl portfolio, which consisted of stores under construction across the UK.

It said the stores ranged from 20,000 to 25,000 square feet each.

Lidl previously acquired the land, obtained planning permission, and started construction, with completion of the stores expected between late October and February.

Under the terms of the deal, Lidl would sell and lease back the completed stores to the joint venture on 25-year leases with annual rent indexation, starting from 1 March 2025.

Roadside said it would initially commit £0.45m, equivalent to 3% of the equity for the acquisition, with a maximum commitment of £2.1m, funded from its existing cash reserves.

The board said the transaction was the fourth and largest deal for the joint venture, which was continuing to negotiate additional site acquisitions aimed at delivering sustainable returns and valuable local amenities.

“This is a significant transaction for both Lidl and the joint venture, deploying a substantial portion of our joint venture's targeted investment quantum into high-quality assets with a nationally recognised tenant under strong covenants,” said executive chairman Charles Dickson.

“The Lidl portfolio is an excellent example of the joint venture’s strategy in action, rapidly providing targeted capital to enable tenant expansion whilst securing asset management fees and creating additional opportunities for income initiatives.”

At 1330 BST, shares in Roadside Real Estate weer down 0.03% at 27.59p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.