Singapore-based Sun Venture Acquires London Commercial Properties For £552m
UNITED KINGDOM – Proving that there’s still robust demand for the best commercial properties in London, Singapore’s Sun Venture has signed a deal to purchase 1 & 2 New Ludgate for £552 million (S$989.34 million) in cash, making it one of the biggest cross-border deals for 2020, reported RETalk Asia on Friday (4 December).
The seller is Land Securities Group (Landsec), one of the largest lessors in the country’s capital. On the other hand, privately held Sun Venture was incorporated in 2006 and was formerly known as Legend Investment Holdings.
Sited on a 1.5-acre prime site adjacent to the Central Criminal Court, 1 & 2 New Ludgate consists of a total of 389,615 sq ft of office and retail space. Built in 2015, the commercial premises had a book value of £546.4 million on 31 March 2020 and generates rental income of £23.7 million per annum.
In particular, 1 New Ludgate comes with 183,305 sq ft of office and retail space that are leased to a number of tenants, including law firm Ropes & Gray International, as well as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. As for 2 New Ludgate, it has larger office and retail premises totalling 206,310 sq ft, with the office space fully leased to Mizuho Bank.
“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,” said JLL’s Executive Director and Head of Capital Strategies for Asia Pacific, Tim Graham.
“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.”
1 & 2 New Ludgate represents Sun Venture’s second acquisition in the UK, following the purchase of One New Oxford Street for about £180 million in July 2020.
The unconditional acquisition of 1 & 2 New Ludgate is expected to be completed by the end of December 2020.
