Henderson Global Investors, acting on behalf of Pearl Assurance, has paid Anton Bilton’s Raven Group £19.8m for No.1 Hagley Road in Birmingham. The deal reflects an initial yield of 8.75%.
Henderson bought the landmark office complex for Pearl’s Long Term Fund.
Andrew Creighton, senior portfolio manager at Henderson, said: “This purchase is in line with the fund’s strategy of securing properties with asset management opportunities, while providing a strong income return for our client.”
The deal follows a number of setbacks in the sale of the building, which firstly saw BP Pension Fund pull out of an agreement at the 11th hour.
The Fordgate Group was then tipped to be the frontrunner to buy the scheme, before Henderson clinched the deal for the 18-storey office tower.
Raven bought the building in September 2000 for £8.25m.
The 138,127 sq ft (12,832 sq m) office block has an annual rent roll of £1.83m and is multi-let to tenants including HSBC, ATS Michelin, National Express and the Health & Safety Executive, mainly on 15-year leases, at rents up to £13.50 per sq ft (£145 per sq m).
Kinght Frank and Grenville Smith & Duncan advised Raven. While James Andrew International advised Henderson/Pearl.
EGi News 18/07/02
