LondonMetric sells Taunton Odeon for £9.1m

Real estate investment trust LondonMetric announced the sale of its freehold Odeon multiplex cinema in Taunton on Thursday, to the Asda Pension Fund, for £9.1m.

The FTSE 250 firm said the property will form part of a portfolio managed by OLIM Property.

LondonMetric confirmed the eight screen, 27,000 square foot cinema complex is let to Odeon Cinemas for a remaining term of 22 years. Rent rises were set down annual, in line with the retail price index between 1% and 5%.

It was part of a portfolio of ten Odeon multiplexes acquired by LondonMetric in November 2013 at an overall net initial yield of 7.2%. The sale represented a net initial yield of 5.5%.

LondonMetric continues to own six Odeon cinemas and one VUE complex with an average lease length of 22 years.

"Since acquisition, this asset has generated a strong income return and benefitted from yield compression as demand increasingly focuses on long and predictable income,” said chief executive Andrew Jones.

"It has been an excellent investment providing inflation linked income growth let to a strong covenant in a market that continues to strengthen on the back of an impressive film slate."