BlackRock Europe Property Fund III has sold a land development company for £120m.

Lands Improvement Group has been acquired by Telereal Trillium which already has a £5.5bn portfolio with occupiers including BT, Royal Mail and the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Lands Improvement acquires greenfield and brownfield sites before preparing them for residential-led development by obtaining outline planning and delivering strategic infrastructure.

The company’s portfolio consists of close to 2,500 acres of land across the UK and Kevin Moriarty, Managing Director of Lands Improvement, said he was delighted with the takeover.

“The deal brings together two companies with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in property and strategic land development at a time when there is significant political and market pressure to deliver housing in the UK,” said Kevin.

“With Telereal Trillium behind us as a committed long term investor, we look forward to building on our long track record of success in this specialist area.”

Graham Edwards, CEO at Telereal Trillium, added that at a time of housing shortage he was delighted to have acquired a major player combating the housing shortfall.

“It has a strong management team, important strategic relationships with key partners and some outstanding land holdings,” said Graham.  

“We believe that it provides a great platform to make the most of the assets it already owns, to make further investments into new sites, and to add value to sites within Telereal Trillium’s existing nationwide portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Chris McCormack, Director of BlackRock Real Estate, concluded: “We have realised a good return for our investors and are confident that the business’ healthy pipeline of deals will allow it to thrive further in the future.”