Cooke & Arkwright
News
Woodley stays Welsh
20/01/05
H Woodley & Company, one of South Wales’ oldest and best known retailing businesses, has been sold for in excess of £7m in a transaction to Richard Morgan & Company.
Established in 1884, Woodley’s developed into the largest meat business in Wales and continued as a dynamic chain of butcher’s shops until 1990. Thereafter the business concentrated on developing a diverse property portfolio. The sale of the company included some 50 units was co-ordinated by Cooke & Arkwright and Rawlins & Madley.
The sale generated substantial interest from investors across the UK and Ireland with a quoting price of offers in excess of £6,500,000. Richard Woodley, the shareholders attorney said, “The directors and the 30 widely distributed shareholders of H Woodley & Company, were delighted at the outcome of the saleand are pleased that the ownership of the company is to remain with a South Wales based investor.”
The acquisition of the Woodley’s portfolio by Richard Morgan & Company coincides with their 25th year of trading. Over 25 years Richard Morgan & Company has consistently been one of South Wales’ premier investors/developers building up a substantial portfolio. Richard Morgan expressed great delight in securing the purchase in spite of considerable competition. “I have been seeking to increase the amount of retail property within the portfolio for a number of years and the opportunity to acquire 50 or so units in one purchase significantly bolsters the size and gives good balance to the portfolio. I am delighted to keep the ownership of the properties in Welsh hands!”
Graham Davies, director at Cooke & Arkwright reported that the portfolio provided a unique opportunity. “It offers an excellent spread of risk and potential for both rental and capital growth across the properties,” he said. “It has been quite some time since a retail portfolio of this type has come to the market. The interest received and the price achieved reflects the quality of the portfolio.”