Newmark Advises Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust on £380 Million Acquisition of Picton Property Income Assets

Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust has completed a £380 million acquisition of 54% of Picton Property Income's property assets, executing the deal as part of a consortium arrangement with LondonMetric Property. Newmark advised Schroder REIT on the transaction, which closed in September 2026 and represents one of the larger listed commercial property deals in the UK market in recent years.

Deal Structure and Consortium Terms

The transaction was structured as an all-share scheme of arrangement valuing Picton at approximately £404 million. Under the consortium terms, Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust acquired 54% of Picton's property assets by value — focused on the Aviva, NatWest and uncharged portfolios — with assets valued at approximately £380 million. LondonMetric Property took the remaining 46%, comprising Picton's Canada Life-backed assets of approximately £320 million plus approximately £24 million in net cash, for an allocation of roughly £344 million. The scheme became effective around September 10–11, 2026, with settlement due by September 24, 2026.

John Rodgers, Managing Partner and Head of UK Capital Markets at Newmark, and Jamie Hall, Partner in Capital Markets at Newmark, advised Schroder REIT on the transaction.

"To conclude a transaction of this size in the listed market speaks to the appetite for scale in UK commercial property," Rodgers said. "Investors are focused on larger, more liquid portfolios weighted towards the higher growth sectors, with the industrial sector remaining at the forefront. We are very pleased to have advised Schroder REIT on this innovative transaction."

Portfolio Composition and Asset Detail

Picton's portfolio is industrial-led, with approximately 62% of its value in industrial assets and roughly 7% in retail warehouses, spread across UK regions. The portfolio historically comprised around 46 to 48 assets totaling approximately 4.2 million square feet, with roughly 300 to 350 occupiers.

Key multi-let industrial estates within the portfolio include Parkbury Industrial Estate at Handley Page Way in Radlett, Hertfordshire, which spans approximately 337,900 square feet and has historically operated at full occupancy. River Way Industrial Estate in Harlow, Essex covers approximately 454,000 square feet and carries occupancy of around 98%. Express Business Park on Shipton Way in Rushden, Northamptonshire totals approximately 312,900 square feet. Lyon Business Park on River Road in Barking, London is approximately 99,400 square feet and is fully occupied. Datapoint on Cody Road in London E16 spans 55,100 square feet at approximately 90% occupancy. Sundon Business Park on Dencora Way in Luton, Bedfordshire is also part of the portfolio.

The assets allocated to Schroder REIT are concentrated in the multi-let industrial and retail warehouse sectors, consistent with the trust's stated investment focus. Prior to the deal, those two sectors already represented between 63% and 66% of Schroder REIT's portfolio by value.

Strategic Rationale for Schroder REIT and LondonMetric

For Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, the acquisition substantially enlarges the portfolio and lifts its scale within the AIC UK commercial property peer group, where it competes with vehicles such as Custodian Property Income. The trust has explicitly targeted multi-let industrial and retail warehouse assets as higher-growth sectors, and Picton's industrial-weighted portfolio aligns with that strategy.

For LondonMetric Property, the Canada Life-backed slice of Picton's assets introduces long-income, debt-structured exposure that complements its existing logistics and retail warehouse platform.

Newmark's Role in Large-Cap Real Estate M&A

The Schroder REIT mandate adds to a series of large-cap advisory assignments for Newmark. Recent transactions include advising Blackstone on the sale of the Trot portfolio and Tritax on the acquisition of the Solstice portfolio, advising Blue Owl Capital on its $2.4 billion acquisition of Sila Realty Trust, and advising the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board on its agreement to sell Amica Senior Lifestyles to Welltower for CA$4.6 billion.

For the twelve months ended June 30, 2026, Newmark generated revenues of more than $3.6 billion and operated from over 195 offices with more than 10,000 professionals across four continents.

Sources

Newmark – Press Release: Newmark Advises Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust on Acquisition of Picton Property Income