Henderson Global Investors' Central London Office Fund ("CLOF") announces that it has completed the sale of 7/8 St Martin's Place in London's West End for over £33 million (approx. eur 39 mln.). The sale was made at a net initial yield of 6.77% to two Italian funds, RealEmerging and GEO Ponente, which are both managed by EstCapital, an Italian independent asset management company that specializes in closed-end real estate funds.
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The office building is less than100 meters from Trafalgar Square.
The 47,810 ft2 (4,430 m2) office building adjoins St Martin-in-the-Fields and is less than 100 metres from Trafalgar Square and other central London landmarks. The office space is let to Redwood Publishing and has six years remaining on the lease. There are also two ground level retail units which are let to the Post Office and Pret a Manger.
The acquisition of St. Martin's Place is intended to provide EstCapital's funds with exposure to returns not currently obtainable on comparable assets in the Italian market.
Commenting on the sale, Clive Castle, CLOF's fund manager said: "The sale of St Martin's Place was an opportunistic transaction which allowed us to take advantage of the renewed and strong interest we are seeing from overseas investors in acquiring London offices of this lot size. The proceeds of the sale will be reinvested to take advantage of other opportunities to create value in our fund."
Savills advised Henderson and Cushman & Wakefield represented EstCapital.
A closed-ended Jersey Property Unit Trust, CLOF was launched in March 2004. Principally investing in the City, West End and Mid Town, the portfolio now includes 18 assets with a combined portfolio value of £460 million. By employing specialist asset management skills and the prudent use of gearing, the fund aims to provide investors with total return in excess of that delivered by the Central London Office component of the IPD UK Annual Index, whilst containing risk and maintaining a reasonable income distribution yield.
Following the success of CLOF, Henderson began marketing the Central London Office Fund II in May 2009.
Source: FD
