Oxford Properties has become the sole owner of a C$1.5bn (€961bn) office portfolio in Western Canada, acquiring of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s (CPP Investments) 50% stake in the portfolio.
The global real estate arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS acquired the 50% interest in the 4m sqft portfolio of seven assets for C$730m.
The portfolio’s assets include: the 25-storey Eau Claire Tower in Calgary, built in 2016; the Centennial Place in Calgary, built in 2010; 400 Third in Calgary, built in 1988; The Stack in Vancouver, built in 2023; Guinness Tower and Marine Building properties in Vancouver, both renovated in 2014; and the MNP Tower in Vancouver, built in 2014.
Tyler Seaman, executive vice president for Canada at Oxford Properties, said: ”Oxford has been a net seller of office for over a decade to achieve portfolio diversification. We believe now is an opportune time to rotate capital back into this asset class, and this portfolio ticks all the right boxes.
“As the asset and property manager of this portfolio, this transaction represents a compelling opportunity for us to further invest in markets that we not only understand intimately, but in buildings where our teams have built great relationships with our customers and where we consistently use this advantage to outperform the market.”
Daniel Fournier, executive chair at Oxford Properties, said: ”This transaction reaffirms our deep conviction in the outperformance of high-quality, well-located office properties and, more broadly, our conviction to invest in Canada.
“We have deep admiration for our partners at CPP Investments, with whom we will continue to own a sizeable portfolio, and are proud to build on our successful, 20-year track record of doing business together, all in service of generating returns for Canadians and our respective pensioners.”
Sophie van Oosterom, managing director and head of real estate at CPP Investments, said: “This transaction involving high-quality office properties highlights our strong, ongoing partnership with Oxford, which has delivered compelling returns for the CPP fund.
“The transaction is a continuation of our real estate strategy to secure strong business plan execution and redeploy capital into new opportunities, supporting the continued growth and performance optimisation of our global real estate portfolio.”
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