US Prudential arm takes stake in Warrington’s Langtree

Investor PGIM Real Estate has acquired a 25% stake in the developer of Sci-Tech Daresbury and the regeneration of Parkside Colliery on behalf of one of its funds.

Warrington-based Langtree already manages around £400m of assets on PGIM Real Estate’s behalf and the investment will help to spur Langtree’s growth and provide it with “the financial resources to boost its activities”, the parties said in a statement.

US-based PGIM Real Estate is the property investment business of PGIM, the $1.4trn global investment management arm of New York Stock Exchange-listed Prudential Financial. PGIM Real Estate itself is one of the largest property investors in the world with $182.5bn of gross assets under management. The value of the Langtree deal was not disclosed.

In the region, Langtree is part of the Wire Regeneration joint venture with Warrington Council, which is working to deliver a mixed-use town centre redevelopment of Warrington’s southern gateway. The Wire Regeneration JV owns £8.2m of property assets in the southern gateway and a masterplan is being finalised.

Langtree has also begun work on the latest phase of speculative office development at the SciTech Daresbury science and technology park in Cheshire, known as Project Violet. And it is part of the Parkside Regeneration JV with St Helens Council hoping to create a 1m sq ft industrial estate at the former 230-acre colliery in Newton-le-Willow.

The scheme was called in last year by the Government, and the Planning Inspectorate has begun an inquiry this month into whether to allow the plans to go ahead. The scheme includes a link road that would cut through 93 acres of Green Belt in St Helens and Warrington and has drawn criticism from local residents.

John Downes, Langtree’s chief executive and its majority shareholder, said: “We are delighted to have secured this equity investment in the business. PGIM Real Estate has tremendous strength and a wealth of experience supporting joint ventures, which is a key aspect of our business.

“Its investment is a real show of confidence in what we are doing and gives Langtree a tremendous platform to grow, with new opportunities now being a real target.”

Langtree’s model includes several third-party management contracts comprising industrial, office and residential for clients including PGIM Real Estate.

Charles Crowe, head of UK transactions at PGIM Real Estate, said: “We have worked with the Langtree team for more than 10 years on numerous ventures. It already manages over £400m of investment and development assets on our behalf and so taking an equity share in the development business was a natural next step.

“Langtree has a strong management team with a wide range of expertise and together with the strengths that we can bring to the business, we are excited about the future and keen to start exploring new opportunities.”