GIC acquires Blackstone stake in London office building

The 710,000-square-feet 5BG is located in the centre of Broadgate in London's City financial district and is pre-let in its entirety to UBS. The remaining 50% continues to be held by British Land, the asset and development manager of the estate and one of the UK's largest real estate investment trusts.

Blackstone first acquired its stake in the asset in 2009 via Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI in a deal valued at GBP1.07 billion.

Broadgate - which has 17 office buildings and spans over 4.7 million sq ft - is located adjacent to Liverpool Street station and is expected to benefit from direct access to the new Crossrail station being developed as part of a new rail project spanning the capital which set to be completed by 2018.

According to British Land, the plan is to broaden the site's appeal from a City-focused financial base to cater to creative and tech-focused businesses emerging in the nearby Shoreditch and Old Street districts.

"The estate will give us an attractive combination of stable long-term income with the potential to create additional value through active management, repositioning of the office buildings and by enhancing the retail and leisure offer," said Christopher Morrish, regional head, Europe, GIC Real Estate in a statement. "These efforts will retain Broadgate's attraction to a broad range of international occupiers."

GIC had 10% of its assets in real estate globally as of March 31, unchanged from the previous year, according to its latest annual report. During the past decade, the sovereign wealth fund has reduced its exposure to bonds and cash, while increasing its holdings in equities and alternative asset classes, such as property and private equity.

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• Topics
• Real estate
• Europe
• Southeast Asia
• Singapore
• United Kingdom
• GIC Private
• Real estate
• The Blackstone Group