After the acquisition of Credit Suisse's headquarters in Canary Wharf, the Lebanese group M1 Real Estate have continued their acquisition trail by purchasing Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, from Irish based Moritz Group. At circa £175 million (approx. 200.7 mln.) this is the largest office deal in the West End market since 2007 and M1 secured the deal in front of ten other institutional bidders due to its funding capacity, its track record, and its team credibility.
Victoria House is a 300,000 sq ft (27,800 m²) office, retail and leisure investment occupying the east side of Bloomsbury Square. The art deco Midtown office block was built in 1929 and fully redeveloped by Garbe in 2003 to a class A standard office building, spending in excess of £50million. It is more than 50% let to government backed tenants, with a weighted average term of 9.5 years.
The property, a prominent island site, is the latest addition to M1 Real Estate's existing portfolio of income-generating and development-oriented assets in London. These include properties in Cadogan Square, Cadogan Gardens, Grosvenor Place, Pall Mall, and the recently acquired freehold of 20 Columbus Courtyard, part of the Credit Suisse UK Headquarters Complex. M1 Real Estate's international assets include investments in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
Moritz have being investing in the London market over the past eight years and have bought and sold a number of property investments in this period. The group intends to keep a foothold in the London property market and continues to hold a number of other prime investment properties in the capital city. The Group has it main base in Ireland but also holds assets in Bucharest, Romania.
Moustapha El Solh, M1 Real Estate CEO, commented: "Victoria House sits perfectly within our strategy to build upon our portfolio of prime assets in major cities around the world. We're extremely pleased with the acquisition, the real estate and investment fundamentals make sense and most importantly Victoria House has an imposing history and architecture."
Jones Lang LaSalle advised M1 Real Estate, CBRE advised Moritz.
Source: JLL
