Chinese Estates buys trophy London office
Chinese Estates has bought 11-12 St James’s Square, SW1, from Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund for £175m – a yield of about 4.4%.
The Hong Kong-listed investor acquired Knightlights Property International, a wholly-owned EPF subsidiary, which owns the 80,000 sq ft trophy office building. It paid a completion price of £96.9m, based on the value of the building minus the company’s debts and liabilities.
EPF instructed Savills to sell 11-12 St James’s Square and Tower Bridge House, E1, at the beginning of the year for a combined £380m. The sale is part of EPF’s plan to cash in on the £1bn London investment push it committed to in 2010 as it looks to diversify into alternative real estate assets across Europe. It sold 1 Sheldon Square, W2, to British Land for £210m last April.
Chinese Estates has bought 11-12 St James’s Square, SW1, from Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund for £175m – a yield of about 4.4%.
The Hong Kong-listed investor acquired Knightlights Property International, a wholly-owned EPF subsidiary, which owns the 80,000 sq ft trophy office building. It paid a completion price of £96.9m, based on the value of the building minus the company’s debts and liabilities.
EPF instructed Savills to sell 11-12 St James’s Square and Tower Bridge House, E1, at the beginning of the year for a combined £380m. The sale is part of EPF’s plan to cash in on the £1bn London investment push it committed to in 2010 as it looks to diversify into alternative real estate assets across Europe. It sold 1 Sheldon Square, W2, to British Land for £210m last April.
Chinese Estate said the acquisition would enable it to expand its presence in the property market and develop its footprint in the UK. Last year it bought £690.7m of assets in the UK, including 14 George Street, W1, and 61-67 Oxford Street, W1.
CBRE acted for Chinese Estates; Savills acted for EPF.
James Rood, senior director in the central London investment team at CBRE said: “We are delighted to have acquired 11/12 St James’s Square on behalf of Chinese Estates following a competitive bidding process.
“It will be a fantastic addition to their portfolio and is another example of the strength of appetite and commitment from overseas capital, particularly from Asia, for prime London real estate.”
To send feedback, e-mail karl.tomusk@egi.co.uk or tweet @ktomusk or @estatesgazette
