Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate, the investment and asset management division of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, has expanded its retail portfolio by acquiring Phases 2 and 3 of Merry Hill Retail Park in Brierley Hill and Phoenix Retail Park in Corby.

Both acquisitions were made on behalf of separate client funds, with the purchase amounts remaining undisclosed.

The Merry Hill Retail Park additions encompass approximately 197,000 sq ft of retail warehouse and restaurant space across nearly 15 acres, offering around 600 free parking spaces. Current tenants include The Range, Currys, Wren Kitchens, DFS, and Pets at Home, occupying spaces ranging from 1,900 to 52,000 sq ft.

Phoenix Retail Park in Corby provides 118,200 sq ft of retail warehouse space and hosts tenants such as M&S Foodhall, Matalan, The Range, Currys, Next, and The Food Warehouse.

Tom Elviss, fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate, commented on the acquisitions: “The acquisition of both Phases 2 and 3 at Merry Hill Retail Park from two separate vendors constitutes a majority holding at one of the UK’s dominant retail warehouse clusters in the West Midlands. This presents a significant opportunity to maximise the assets’ potential under single ownership.

“Phoenix Retail Park is set to benefit from Corby’s sizeable residential development pipeline, which brings with it a catchment growth proposition that will allow us to enhance the tenant mix further. At both locations, we intend to draw on our strong retailer relationships and scale in the retail warehouse market as we seek to proactively asset manage the holdings to deliver strong returns for our investors.”

For the Merry Hill transaction, Harvey Spack Field represented the buyer, while Morgan Williams represented the sellers. In the Phoenix Retail Park acquisition, Savills advised the buyer and Knight Frank represented the seller.