Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Singapore’s Sun Venture Notches UK’s Biggest Deal of the Year with $742M London Buy

2020/12/06 by Michael Cole Leave a Comment

1 2 new ludgate 2 London

Sun Venture has made 1&2 New Ludgate its second London acquisition this year

The biggest acquisition in the UK market this year comes from a Singaporean buyer, as UK developer and investor Land Securities Group, announced on Friday that it had agreed to sell an office block in the City of London for £552 million ($742 million).

Sun Venture, an asset manager based in Southeast Asia’s wealthiest city, has agreed to make 1&2 New Ludgate, a five-year-old commercial complex in the City of London, its second acquisition in the UK, following a buy in July of this year.

Yardi Investment Manager 2

In announcing the deal, Lendsec, which manages £11.8 billion in European properties, said that the sale, “demonstrates the strong investor demand for high quality London assets.” The purchase by Sun Venture is the latest in a string of UK real estate purchases by Singaporean institutions in 2020.

Buying into London’s Traditional Financial District

“1 & 2 New Ludgate are best-in-class assets and we are pleased to have them in our portfolio,” Sun Venture chairman Ricky Au said in a statement. “London remains attractive to investors taking a long-term view, and this second acquisition forms part of our strategy to expand our presence overseas.”

Tim Graham JLL

JLL head of capital strategies for Asia Pacific Tim Graham

Au’s London prize is a 389,615 square foot (36,196 square metre) complex which occupies a 1.5 acre (6,070 square metre) site next to the Old Bailey in London’s financial district.

Opened in 2015 after being redeveloped by Landsec, 2 New Ludgate, one of the two buildings in the complex, is leased to Japan’s Mizuho Bank on a 20-year deal which was first signed in 2014. 1 New Ludgate is occupied in part by UK law firm Ropes & Gray, which leases three floors in the building. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is also an occupier.

The property generates £23.7 million in contracted rental income annually, according to Landsec, and was valued at £546.4 million as of 31 March of this year.

MTD Proptech Report

The complex near St Paul’s Cathedral includes a total of 356,547 square feet of office space, and another 28,524 square feet of retail accommodation. At the consideration, Sun Venture is paying the equivalent of £1,416 per square foot for the property. Landsec was advised on the sale by CBRE, while JLL represented Sun Venture.

The London-listed firm lost £835 million during the six months which ended 31 March, according to its mid-year report.

In a statement last month announcing its financials, Landsec chief executive Mark Allan said, “The investment market for high-quality London office assets, such as those owned by Landsec, has remained robust throughout the pandemic and there is little sign of that interest waning. Access to this liquidity, coupled with the acquisition and development opportunities that are likely to arise as a result of increased obsolescence of older office stock, as well as the long-term need for urban mixed use regeneration, mean there will be ample opportunity for Landsec to create significant value.”

Singapore Chases UK Deals

Sun Venture’s second UK acquisition comes five months after the Singaporean firm purchased One New Oxford Street in London’s Midtown area from a Nuveen fund backed by the Central London Office Fund and British Airways Pension Trustees.

That deal was Sun Venture’s first outside of Singapore, where it manages around 800,000 square feet of property, alongside other assets. The asset manager paid around £174 million in that July acquisition of the 110,000 square foot office block, which is leased to H&M and Amazon’s Twitch video unit.

MTD Proptech Report

“As one of the largest global cross border deals of 2020, the acquisition by Sun Venture further underlines the confidence in best-in-class, income producing assets from Asian capital,” JLL head of capital strategies for Asia Pacific Tim Graham, said of this latest deal.

After several Singaporean groups made real estate acquisitions in the UK this year, Graham predicted that more cross-border purchases could be on their way. “Asian capital will continue to become a more influential presence in global real estate markets and the expertise of Singapore-based investors in international real estate markets will undoubtedly play to their advantage in 2021 and beyond,” the JLL executive director said.

Sun Venture’s purchase last week comes just under two months after Singapore-listed Suntec REIT made its UK debut with the £430.6 million purchase of a half-stake in the Nova Victoria complex in London’s West End.

Like Sun Venture’s acquisitions, that investment by the trust managed by Singapore’s ARA Asset Management chose a central London opportunity, while other institutions from the Lion City have pursued business park deals this year.

In August, Singapore’s Straits Trading, in a purchase managed by ARA, picked up the Bourne Business Park, a 182,364 square foot office facility in Addlestone, Surrey from LaSalle Investment Management for £76.7 million.

During February of this year, CapitaLand agreed to pay £129 million to buy the Arlington Business Park outside London from a joint venture between UK private equity firm Patron Capital and London-based property asset manager APAM.

Frasers Property had kicked off Singaporean investments in London assets this year with its £135 million January acquisition of Lakeshore, a business park in Bedfont Lakes, Feltham, Middlesex near London from UK private investment bank Evans Randall.

Related Stories

  • Hong Kong’s K&K Buys Pair of London Office Buildings for £180MHong Kong’s K&K Buys Pair of London Office Buildings for £180M
  • Singapore’s CDL Buys Former London Stock Exchange from Blackstone for £385MSingapore’s CDL Buys Former London Stock Exchange from Blackstone for £385M
  • Fosun Acquires London’s Royal Exchange for £45MFosun Acquires London’s Royal Exchange for £45M
  • Lai Sun Wins Approval to Build City of London’s Third-Tallest TowerLai Sun Wins Approval to Build City of London’s Third-Tallest Tower

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Outbound Investment Tagged With: City of London, daily-sp, Featured, JLL, Land Securities, London, Outbound investment, Sun Venture, UK

MTD Proptech Report Download

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yardi General 2

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

Proptech Registration Column

Latest Stories

Ben Cha Grosvenor

UK Developer Grosvenor Appoints Kozo Hiratani as Japan President

JLL Ken Sakuramoto

JLL Chooses Outsiders to Fill Japan, India Leadership Posts 

Seoul Office Deals Reached Record $12.1B in 2020 and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

vrco neoxcraft

Logistics Real Estate Experts Join MTD TV Proptech Forum This Week

Sponsored Features

Tony Horrell

Colliers’ Global Investor Sentiment Report Anticipates Up to 50% Surge in Investment in 2021 Sponsored Feature

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

CK Lau

Asia Pacific Logistics Sector: Increasingly Varied Sector Requires Multiple Approaches Sponsored Feature

COVID-19 Uncertainty Creates New Priorities for Real Estate Investors Sponsored Feature

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

Singapore’s CDL Warns of Loss After China Developer Investment Swells to $1.4BSingapore’s CDL Warns of Loss After China Developer Investment Swells to $1.4B

Logos Launches $371M Malaysian Project in Southeast Asia ExpansionLogos Launches $371M Malaysian Project in Southeast Asia Expansion

Asia Real Estate People in the News 2021-01-25Asia Real Estate People in the News 2021-01-25

Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business GrowsHines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team

We use cookies in accordance with our Privacy policy to provide the best user experience on Mingtiandi and to safeguard user data. By continuing to browse you consent to the policy. AcceptRefuse