TJ Hughes Agrees to £19m Sale Leaseback Deal in UK

Property Week - January 23, 2004

TJ Hughes has struck a £19m sale-and-leaseback deal in Liverpool with a private investment house following the £56m management buyout of the business from JJB Sports in November. New owner PPM Ventures, the venture capitalist armof Prudential, and the management team led by chief executive George Foster, have sold the freehold of Hughes House, the group's 207,000 sq ft (19,230 sq m) headquarters, and the adjoining store in London Road, Liverpool, to Dawnay Day for £11.6m.

It has also sold a 175,000 sq ft (16,257 sq m) distribution centre to Dawnay Day in Edge Lane on the outskirts of the city for £7.5m. The first deal represents a yield of 7%. TJ Hughes is leasing back the HQ and store for £825,000 a year. In the second deal, the yield is 7.5%. It will lease the property back for £565,000 a year. The property has been sold to help pay back debt incurred by the new owner when it bought the business from JJB Sports. Halifax Bank of Scotland provided the main finance for the MBO.

TJ Hughes operates a portfolio of 37 stores across the country selling value goods. The largest of them is in Glasgow and measures around 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sq m). Sphere: Related Content