This Week's London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Singaporean investor HE Capital has made its London debut with the acquisition of 147-155 Wardour Street, Soho, from Hong Kong investor Lai Wing-To for £35M, reflecting a net initial yield close to 6%.
In the first acquisition for HE Capital’s £200M new London-focused fund, it has acquired the 27K SF, six-storey mixed-use asset, which formed part of three West End assets offered for sale at the start of the year by Wing-To, collectively referred to as the Trinity portfolio. BNP Paribas Real Estate advised on the deal.
HE Capital fund has been set up as a variable capital company, with the structure facilitating the setup of asset-level subfunds for each asset. That means different fund investors can invest in different assets.
“This purchase affirms our intention to actively invest into the London market where we feel there are significant opportunities,” HE Capital Chief Investment Officer Imran Ellahi said in a statement.
“HEC was set up to provide a trusted avenue for Asian capital to access real estate opportunities in global gateways. Our investment strategy is targeting London, where pricing has rebased quickly, eventually expanding to other gateway cities that are slightly lagging behind the London market.”
DEALS
Student accommodation developer and operator Fusion Group and global alternative investment manager Cheyne Capital have jointly acquired a second site for purpose-built student accommodation in Brent Cross Town.
The Fusion scheme, which is expected to have a gross development value of £275M, has been designed by PRP and will deliver approximately 650 student beds and associated amenities. Related Argent will lead the preparation of the planning application, which is expected to be submitted in the fourth quarter.
This is the seventh development on which Fusion and Cheyne have partnered and their second in Brent Cross Town. The new scheme will bring the GDV of the investment partnership’s assets in Brent Cross Town to about £500M.
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Wrenbridge and Fiera Real Estate have purchased the former Wood offices at Shinfield Park, Reading, in an off-market transaction. The 285K SF office buildings were originally built for the county council and have become surplus to Wood’s requirements.
The plan is to replace the obsolete buildings with six logistics units totalling 225K SF with a gross development value of circa £75M. Units are expected to range between 20K SF and 88K SF. The partners will target BREEAM Excellent and A+ energy performance certificate credentials.
For Fiera Real Estate, this was the 11th acquisition since inception, and the fund has further funds to deploy into similar small and midbox urban UK logistics sites, the company said.
FINANCING
Student living specialist Dot Group has agreed on a strategic financing relationship with Blue Owl’s GP Strategic Capital platform.
Dot said establishing a long-term relationship would provide it with access to institutional capital and was part of its strategy to grow the business, especially in the global student accommodation sector, real estate asset and fund management, and Yugo, its global student housing operator brand.
Berkshire Global Advisors served as financial adviser, and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal adviser to Dot.
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Specialist secure income manager AlphaReal has invested in a portfolio of 28 childcare facilities across the UK on behalf of retirement specialist Just Group. The deal takes the total portfolio invested by AlphaReal on behalf of Just Group to more than £500M of long-income real estate and loan note investments.
The most recent childcare investment provides long-term financing for one of the UK’s largest family-run childcare operators, which is responsible for the care and education of more than 29,000 children nationwide.
This latest investment increases the allocation of childcare, educational and healthcare facilities in AlphaReal’s partnership with Just Group to more than 170.
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Grosvenor has announced the refinancing of a £552M tranche of its £1.1B syndicated, unsecured, multicurrency revolving credit facility. The transaction, completed in June, means the full £1.1B RCF, originally signed in 2021, has been refinanced in the past year.
This secures Grosvenor’s medium-term committed backup liquidity to support its international urban property business, the company said.
Across the London portfolio, excluding “strategic voids,” occupancy reached a postpandemic high of over 97% at the end of the first half, with office occupancy performing particularly well, rising to 99%, the company said in a statement.
LEASING
Boston-headquartered Veson Nautical is to become the latest occupier of Arbor, the Bankside Yards office building in Native Land’s £2.5B mixed-use regeneration project on the South Bank of the Thames.
The maritime freight management solutions company has agreed to a 13,500 SF lease and joins a mix of occupiers at Arbor that includes technology consultancy Wipro, industrial technology business Smiths Group, The Carbon Trust, Merlin Entertainments, Flutter Entertainment, and law firms Lewis Silkin and Winckworth Sherwood. The building is 75% leased.
Veson will occupy the 12th floor of the 19-storey, 222K SF building, designed by PLP Architecture in conjunction with Stiff and Trevillion.
