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.
Legal & General Group has agreed on the £1.4B sale of UK housebuilder Cala Group to Ferguson Bidco, an entity owned by funds managed by Sixth Street Partners and Patron Capital.
The consideration for the sale will result in cash proceeds of £1.2B after adjustment for net debt, L&G said, of which around £500M will be paid at closing, with the remaining consideration paid over the next five years on a deferred, noncontingent basis.
At midyear, Cala had a net asset value of nearly £1.2B and generated operating profits of £42M. The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.
“This transaction demonstrates continued momentum in executing our strategy, simplifying our portfolio to enable a sharper focus on our core, synergistic businesses,” Legal & General CEO António Simões said in a statement. “Cala has been an important part of L&G for over a decade, with profits increasing ten-fold since our initial investment in 2013. The sale will provide capital to deliver our strategic goals of sustainable growth alongside enhanced returns for shareholders.”
FINANCE
M&G has extended a commercial real estate loan secured against a multimillion-pound portfolio of prime central London retail assets in Mayfair, including Gucci’s store at 144 and 146 New Bond Street and retail and residential assets on St Johns Wood High Street.
The move reflects the rebound in investor confidence and a continued recovery in valuations for assets in London’s fashionable prime retail markets, M&G Real Estate said of the deals.
It added that it has a “strong conviction” in the strength of the West End’s real estate recovery.
“London remains a top shop till you drop destination for tourists and the prime retail real estate market is benefitting from a strong rebound as luxury brands bag desirable spots on some of the world’s most famous destination shopping streets,” M&G Real Estate Head of Real Estate Finance Dan Riches said in a statement.
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Real estate investment management adviser and provider BGO has raised €2B (£1.7B) for its European investment programme through its fourth European value-add strategy.
The fund has raised a total of €1.5B in commitments and €520M through co-investment opportunities in industrial and data centre platforms in Europe and is the fourth fund in BGO’s European Value-Add strategy, which has invested about €4B since 2014.
“Our fourth European value-add strategy retains significant dry powder to capitalise on the strong opportunity in European real estate as markets enter a period of greater stability and growth prospects,” BGO Managing Partner and Head of European Equity Toby Phelps said in a statement.
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Segro has announced the pricing of a €500M senior unsecured bond issue for an eight-year term priced at 123 basis points above euro mid-swaps with an annual coupon of 3.5%. The bond issuance was more than six times subscribed at peak, the company said.
The proceeds of the issue will principally be used to refinance existing debt, with a focus on bank loans maturing in early 2026, Segro said. As a result, the average cost of debt will fall to 2.6% from 2.7% on 30 June, while the average duration increases to 7.3 years from 6.8 years.
FOR SALE
Investor and developer Evans Randall Investors has put freehold office holdings in Farringdon, 20-25 and 26-28 Glasshouse Yard, on the market.
Evans Randall Investors acquired 20-25 and 26-28 Glasshouse Yard in 2018 and 2017, respectively, completing the assembly of a Farringdon site that the company described as having significant redevelopment potential. The buildings offer 55K SF of Grade A office space over four and eight storeys, and 26-28 Glasshouse Yard has been let in its entirety to Amazon since 2012.
Compton has been appointed to market Glasshouse Yard, which it says could be redeveloped to expand to 74K SF of Grade A office accommodation.
LEASING
Kadans Science Partner has added Myricx Bio to its London Innovation Centre at 20 Water Street, Canary Wharf. The UK biotech company is focused on the discovery and development of antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of cancer and will move its headquarters to the London Innovation Centre, taking a mix of laboratory and office space.
The London Innovation Centre comprises 40K SF of Containment Level 2 wet labs and offices ranging from 250 SF to more than 2K SF labs.
DEVELOPMENT
Work to transform a 60-acre site at Silvertown in the Royal Docks has begun after the completion of a building containing the first new homes on the site. The six-storey building, developed by Lendlease, will provide 106 new affordable homes and remains on track for delivery by autumn 2025.
The Silvertown regeneration will create circa 6,500 new homes, including affordable rent, social rent and shared ownership tenures, and the plans also include the restoration of the Millennium Mills and new retail, leisure, cultural and community facilities, and workspaces.
The first residential building to top out is a mansion block comprising one- and two-bedroom homes and ground-floor retail. The building will form the start of a new high street spanning North Woolwich Road and Millennium Mills.
PEOPLE
Related Argent has announced that after 17 years with the company, Executive Directors Michael Lightbound and Nick Searl will be leaving at the end of 2024.
Both became partners of Argent in 2012. Lightbound has been finance partner since 2015, leading many of the financial transactions completed at the King’s Cross estate, Heart of Hale and more recently Brent Cross Town.
Searl, after a decade working in various roles in the King’s Cross development team, has worked as a member of the leadership team of Brent Cross Town since 2016 and was managing partner of Argent from 2020 to April 2024.
They both became executive directors in 2023 ahead of the transition to Related Argent on 1 May 2024.
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Cody Bradshaw has joined as group CEO of L+R Hotels, with overall responsibility for global strategy, growth, asset management and performance. The three business units of Americas, Europe and UK, and Atlas will report directly to Bradshaw, the company said.
Bradshaw worked at Starwood Capital Group for over 13 years, serving on the firm’s investment committee.
