Azif Aziz’s Criterion Capital is understood to be keen to take the 40-building St Christopher’s Place estate, W1, off Balanced Commercial Property Trust’s hands.
The £200m estate, just off Oxford Street, is the largest asset in the portfolio that BCPT said it could put up for sale as part of a proposed £1bn sell-off announced in April.
The sell-off and wind-down of the fund is one of a number of options being considered as part of a strategic review of the business. The board is also looking at continuing attempts to narrow the trading discount, changing investment strategy and selling the company.
The interest comes as BCPT completes a further two sales from the portfolio for almost £42m.
Since December, the fund has sold more than £110m of offices, including Cowdray Centre in Colchester and 17A Curzon Street, W1, at an average discount of 4.4% to prior valuations.
Acquiring St Christopher’s would add another large slice to Criterion’s West End portfolio. The firm is a major landlord around Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, with a £3.6bn portfolio, including the London Trocadero, London Pavilion and the Criterion Building.
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