Singapore’s Straits Trading Acquires A Portfolio Of UK Office Bldgs
UNITED KINGDOM – Straits Trading’s subsidiary, Straits Real Estate, is buying a portfolio of office buildings, industrial properties, and several pieces of development land in Gloucester Business Park for £130 million (S$219.5 million), reported The Business Times on Wednesday evening (29 June, SGT).
Located about 180km west of London, the 276-acre business park houses a combination of office properties as well as industrial and logistics buildings that are supported by retail units and commercial properties.
In particular, the portfolio Straits Real Estate is purchasing consists of two industrial assets and seven office properties with a combined net lettable area (NLA) of 522,000 plus six plots of development land measuring a total of 830,000 sq ft.
All the nine existing buildings are fully leased. Majority of the tenants are from the industries of energy, healthcare, cybertechnology, and financial services. They include Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation.
Of the vacant pieces of development land, five have been approved for industrial and logistics use, while one small plot is intended for retail premises. Straits Real Estate plans to develop up to 310,000 sq ft of eco-friendly industrial buildings there.
“Following our acquisition of Bourne Business Park in Surrey in the UK, we are delighted to acquire this portfolio of high-quality business assets in Gloucester Business Park, as it fits our overall investment focus on new economy assets,” said Straits Real Estate’s CEO Desmond Tang.
“It offers a balanced blend of recurring income at an attractive yield, while providing upsized return opportunities through the development of logistics warehouses – a sector currently in strong demand,” he added.
