Not Just The Asian Big Guns: The 8 Biggest London Acquisitions Of 2018 So Far

The biggest London deals of 2017 were generally prime offices bought by Asian investors looking for safe deposit boxes for their capital.

If the biggest deals of the first quarter of 2018 are anything to go by, the London investment market is now far more eclectic, with South African investors, European funds and U.K. local authorities very much in the mix.

Here are the top deals, according to data from Real Capital Analytics.

Riverbank House

South African investor Zeno Capital, advised by Robert Houston’s Oxygen Asset Management, paid Evans Randall £400M for Riverbank House, the 320K SF City of London office building which is the headquarters of hedge fund Man Group. Man pays a rent of £60/SF and the deal represents a yield of 3.9%.

Regent Quarter

Hong Kong investor Nan Fund paid the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority £302M for the 250K SF Regent Quarter office campus in King’s Cross, a 4.35% yield. The deal highlights how Asian investors are increasingly willing to take on complex deals involving multi-let assets with higher vacancy rates.

Empress State Building

Capital & Counties sold the 451K SF Empress State office building in Earls Court back to its occupier, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, for £250M. The building had been part of its £12B residential redevelopment of Earls Court, but will be continued to be used by London’s counter-terrorism unit.

Cannon Bridge House

Blackstone continued its London sell-off with the £248M sale of Cannon Bridge House in the City to Korean investors FG Asset Management and Valesco. The 283K SF building has a range of occupiers including Natixis, IG Group Holdings and Winterflood Securities.

1-18 York Terrace East

Johnny Sandelson’s Westbourne Capital paid the Crown Estate £200M for 1-18 York Terrace East, a residential block next to Regent’s Park. Westbourne has now received planning consent for a 28-unit luxury residential scheme with 42 off-site affordable homes. The project will have an end value of £250M.

12 Hammersmith Grove

Spelthorne Borough Council has been one of the most prolific local authorities investing into U.K. real estate in the past few years, including its £170M purchase of 12 Hammersmith Grove from Aberdeen Standard Investments at a 5.25% yield. The 167K SF building has multiple occupiers including WeWork in 50K SF.

First Avenue House

A Japanese private client of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank bought the 112K SF First Avenue House office building in Holborn for £154M from Topland Group, a 3.4% yield. The building is let to the First Secretary of State with fixed uplifts of 2.5% to 2038.

Monument Building

A fund managed by Credit Suisse picked up the Monument Building in the City near London Bridge for £118M from developer Skanska. The deal for the 94K SF multi-let building represented a yield of about 5%.