Cushman & Wakefield Advises Singaporean CDL on Acquisition of £385 million Landmark City of London Tower

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) has advised Singapore-listed City Developments Limited (CDL) on the off-market acquisition of 125 Old Broad Street, London EC2N (125 OBS), for £385 million from Blackstone Group LP (Blackstone). The deal represents one the largest single asset sales in the City of London this year.

The property occupies a rare large freehold island site of 0.70 acres, in the heart of the City of London, directly overlooking the Bank of England. Once the home of the London Stock Exchange, following a significant redevelopment in 2008, the building now comprises 329,200 sq ft of Grade A office retail and ancillary accommodation arranged over three basement levels, ground floor, mezzanine and 26 upper tower floors.

Frank Khoo, CDL Group Chief Investment Officer, said: "In line with our strategy to grow our recurring income significantly over the next 10 years, this is our second London commercial property acquisition in 2018. We have confidence in the long-term fundamentals of London as a global financial hub with a robust office market. The short-term uncertainties surrounding Brexit have presented us opportunities to acquire assets with deep value. Capitalising on attractive pricing and yields, we have continued to expand our London commercial portfolio through strategic off-market acquisitions of high performance assets. The tightening of London’s existing office stock and limited new supply will also drive rental growth into 2021. Given its excellent location in a diverse business district, 125 Old Broad Street will continue to attract a strong tenant mix from the finance, legal, insurance and technology/media/telecommunications sectors.”

Andrew Hawkins, International Partner at Cushman & Wakefield said: "We were delighted to be tasked by CDL to find them an off-market core plus asset where they could add value. We identified 125 Old Broad Street as having the correct attributes and we’re pleased to have worked with CDL, Blackstone and BH2 in delivering this, without recourse to competition, at an attractive price.”

125 OBS is fully let to 21 internationally renowned office occupiers including Cushman & Wakefield, King & Spalding and China International Capital Corporation.

Central London’s office market is enjoying a robust performance at present with the strongest quarterly leasing volume for three years and year-to-date take-up is 9.2 million sq ft, up 8% on last year. Space under offer is 27% above the 10-year average and the vacancy rate is 4.7%, below many global gateway cities.

Cushman & Wakefield, CMS (Lawyers) and KPMG (Tax) advised City Developments Limited (CDL). BH2 and BCLP (Lawyers) advised Blackstone Group LP (Blackstone), the vendor.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value by putting ideas into action for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 48,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of $6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with approximately $440 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, noninvestment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Source: Cushman & Wakefield

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