Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT), managed by Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate, has agreed the sale of three office holdings in a strategic move to reduce its office exposure.
The sale comprises two regional, out of town business park holdings in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and a multi-let asset in London’s West End. The sales have been agreed at a total sale price of £42.8 mln (€50 mln), representing a 0.3% discount against September 2023’s independent valuation, the last valuation prior to the assets being launched to market.
The Company has completed the sale of Nevis & Ness House, Edinburgh Park, a 42,000 ft2 headquarters office occupied by Diageo Scotland Limited, and Building 4, Prime Four Business Park, Aberdeen, a 25,000 ft2 training centre occupied by Maersk Training UK Limited. In a separate transaction BCPT has exchanged contracts on the sale of 2-4 King Street, London SW1, a multi-let holding of 15,000 ft2 in London’s West End.
The sales have been executed as part of BCPT’s strategy to reduce portfolio exposure to the office sector. Following the completion of the disposals, BCPT’s office exposure will fall to 25.4% by capital value from 28.4%. The company will continue to align its portfolio towards structurally supported growth sectors such as industrial and logistics, retail warehousing and operational alternatives.
Richard Kirby, Fund Manager of BCPT, said: 'Our investment ethos has always focused on high quality real estate with strong fundamentals, and the pricing achieved on these sales underlines the importance of taking a quality-led approach. Our active management of the asset base ensures the portfolio is always evolving to capitalise on underlying market dynamics and we expect to make further positive announcements soon.'
