After a second round of competitive bidding a purchaser was selected with terms being agreed swiftly thereafter.

The successful purchaser was John Pye Auctions.

Some 200 jobs will be created following the acquisition, which aims to become its largest auction sales space in Europe.

Other plans include the creation of an auction facility with 50 salerooms which will support growing stock levels in a central hub.

Adam Pye, managing director at John Pye & Sons, said: “Due to a large increase in stock levels and demand for our services from our clients across the whole business due to performance, in-house learning and innovations plus an increasing number of large insolvency instructions, we need more space to fulfil the evolving demands of our client base.

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"This new site located in the West Midlands is in a strategic position in the country, so has huge benefits from a logistics point of view.

“Its size means we can take on more client stocks, hold more auctions and the location will contribute to our commitment to carbon reduction and sustainability by lowering transport emissions.”

Patrick Stanton, head of Bidwells industrial and logistics team who handled the sale on behalf of Dart, added: “It has been a great pleasure working with Dart for the past 10 years.

“The market demand for freehold sites, especially of this size, remains incredibly strong from all sectors.

“We were able to generate considerable levels of interest from all fields, but it was the owner occupiers who remain well financed and keen to invest in their own real estate, that dominated the bidding process.

“This disposal highlights the team's ability to successfully deal with industrial and logistics assets across the UK.”