Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has taken a stake in a domestic office portfolio owned by fellow Canadian pension fund OMERS.
Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), said it has sold a 50% interest in a portfolio of seven office properties in Toronto and Calgary to CPPIB.
The CAD$1.175bn (€801m) deal will see Oxford continue to manage the 4.2m sqft portfolio for the partnership.
The transaction takes the jointly-owned Oxford-CPPIB office portfolio to over 12m sqft.
“This is a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale portfolio of modern office properties in two key Canadian office markets,” said Peter Ballon, managing director, head of investments, real estate investments at CPPIB. “With the addition of these assets, we are able to significantly expand our office portfolio in Canada alongside Oxford.”
Tenants include companies from the financial services, technology, accounting, legal and commodities sectors.
In Toronto, the Richmond-Adelaide Centre includes five buildings in the city’s financial district totalling 2.4m sqft.
In Calgary, Centennial Place and Eau Claire Tower were developed by Oxford.
Michael Turner, executive vice president, Canada, Oxford, said: “Recapitalizing this portfolio allows Oxford to reinvest our equity in new opportunities across the portfolio. We are focused on investing for the long term in proven markets and assets.”
