Segro in £130m deal for French sites

The property company Segro has splashed out €160.8m (£130m) for eight sites on the other side of the English Channel.

Five of the property purchases are in the Ile de France area outside Paris while the other three are close to Lyon the industrial city and transport hub.

Segro, which is already active in France, will now have £500m of assets in the country, covering almost one million square metres and generating more than £40m a year in rental income.

The Slough-based group, which is valued at £1.6bn, has been keen to reshape its portfolio as it focuses on so-called "logistics" transport sites because they are lower risk. Segro shares nudged up 1.5p to 218.8p.