UK - Hermes Real Estate, the property fund manager owned by the £35.3bn (€42.5bn) BT pension scheme, has acquired an office asset on the outskirts of London for £58m.
A spokeswoman for seller European Property Investors Special Opportunities (EPISO) - a joint venture between private equity firm Tristan Capital Partners and AEW Europe - identified the initial yield of just over 7% as the primary reason for the sale of an asset it acquired in September last year.
The office block, which also includes some retail and parking, is fully let to tenants including a primary care trust.
With two recent lettings secured, EPISO said it took advantage of strong demand from institutional investors to sell.
Hermes fund director Chris Darroch said the property subsidiary had been attracted to the acquisition by its "multi-let nature" and the "attractive income yield, which we believe we can enhance through asset management".
Tristan Capital Partners chief executive Ric Lewis said the sale reflected growing institutional investor appetite for core assets.
Invesco research director Simon Mallinson forecast in May that institutional investors would look past prime and super-prime assets to core, value-added assets "slightly higher up the risk spectrum", but at the low-risk end of the secondary market.
