Investment manager Invesco Real Estate (IRE) has sold the Apsley Mills retail park in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, to the Crown Estate for £35 mln (EUR 40 mln).

Apsley Mills was purchased by IRE in June 2008 on behalf of a US pension fund client and represented the very first property purchased outside of the client's domestic market following their decision to diversify their real estate portfolio into Europe in December 2007.

'Our global platform is set up to deliver global solutions to institutional investors around the world and to enable them to implement real estate strategies outside of their domestic borders,' said Rory Morrison, senior director of European Fund Management at IRE. 'This is in part due to the 'on the ground' transactions teams that we have both in the UK and across Europe, who fully understand the marketplace, and it is this local expertise and world view philosophy which we believe places us at an advantage when investing and divesting locally.'

Apsley Mills consists of five retail units totalling 97,000 sq ft (9,000 m2) and 336 customer parking spaces. It is currently 100% let to five retailers: Homebase, Argos, Currys, CarpetRight and Comet.

HP Four acted on behalf of IRE, and Griffiths Eccles acted for The Crown Estate.