- What La Francaise Real Estate Partners set to buy 90 Bartholomew for £48.5m
- Why Renewed interest from underbidders after ASI abandoned its purchase of the building
- What next LF REPI aiming to build property portfolio in the UK
Helical has agreed to sell City office development 90 Bartholomew Close, in what is the first property deal in London for which terms have been agreed and contracts exchanged since the start of the Government lockdown, React News can reveal.
French investor La Francaise Real Estate Partners International has made its first acquisition in the UK with the £48.5m purchase of the 30,929 sq ft of office building, reflecting a 3.92% yield or £1,594 per sq ft.
The deal is a coup for Helical, which owns the building in its joint venture with The Baupost Group, after Aberdeen Standard Investments withdrew from purchasing it last month as the effects of the coronavirus continued to be felt across the property industry.
Fierce bidding for the asset in Febraury led to it going under offer for nearly 20% over the asking price.
While Helical was under no pressure to sell 90 Bartholomew and had no plans to immediately relaunch it for sale given the current climate, renewed interest from underbidders led to talks being reopened.
One of the more tantalising rumours to circulate since the start of the Government lockdown – that French DJ David Guetta had emerged as the buyer for the building – turned out to be untrue.
La Francaise Real Estate Partners is a pan-European investment business acting on behalf of a French collective real estate investment vehicle with €23bn under management. Well known for investing in core and core-plus property across Europe, the acquisition marks LF REPI’s first in the UK on behalf of La Francaise funds, as it looks to grow a property portfolio in the UK.
Aberdeen Standard Investments, advised by Knight Frank, was one of around 10 bids for the office property. Other bids are understood to have come from the likes of Mayfair Capital and M&G.
Helical instructed Fineman Ross and Ingleby Trice in January to sell the freehold interest in the building, which was originally purpose built as a Victorian linoleum factory.
Helical was guiding a price of just over £44m for the asset, which sits at the southern entrance to the newly completed Barts Square, reflecting a 4.5% yield
The newly developed office and retail property was completed in 2018 by Helical and has 30,929 sq ft of office and restaurant space, 24,013 sq ft of which are offices.
The development is let to six tenants by way of seven leases, producing an annual income of just over £2m. The weighted average unexpired term is 8.2 years to lease expiries and circa 5.6 years to the first lease break. Office tenants include Lino; Northridge; Peakon; Constantine Cannon; Sia Partners; and Eric Salmon & Partners.
JLL acted for La Francaise Real Estate Partners International.