The Bank of London & The Middle East (BLME), a UK-based Islamic bank, has bought the headquarters of Scottish Gas in Edinburgh from Palm Capital for £27m (€29.5m).
The Sharia’a-compliant bank – which provides Middle Eastern clients access to real estate investment opportunities in the UK – has bought the 94,100sqft office building at 1 Waterfront Avenue.
Palm Capital said the building, which has served as the operational headquarters of Scottish Gas since 2003, has been leased to Centrica [the parent company of Scottish Gas] on a new 16-year agreement.
Reda Khatim, managing director at Palm Capital, said: “Having acquired this asset off-market in 2016 and subsequently restructured the lease with Centrica, this sale follows the completion of our business plan and realizes significant value for our investors.
“This investment was part of our office 4.0 strategy where we target quality, but under managed assets and reposition them into institutional-quality investment products.”
