Europe-focused private equity real estate manager Castleforge and Malaysian engineering, property and infrastructure firm Gamuda Berhad have acquired Deutsche Bank's UK headquarters for €291 mln.
Winchester House was acquired from Wessex Winchester and is currently leased to Deutsche Bank until April 2024.
The two firms said they would extensively refurbish the property, adding three storeys to the current eight, to create some 200,000 ft2 (18,600 m2) of space. The present building was designed by architect David Walker in 1998.
This would take the property from around 317,000 ft2 to 500,000 ft2.
Gamuda Land, the Malaysian firm's property development arm, said that the refurbishment project would join its slate of 'quick turnaround projecs' (QTP) through which it is seeking to build a portfolio of high profit generating projects with investment timeframes of less than five years.
Accordingly, Gamuda told Malaysian media that it intended to dispose of the project within five years, after completing an ESG-aligned refurbishment and securing a strong tenant for the scheme.
The QTP programme looks at a range of asset classes and geographical areas.
Cheyne Capital has provided the finance.
Andreas Dimitriou from the lender said: 'This is a rare opportunity to redevelop an office of this size in the heart of the City of London.'
'This remains one of the most attractive office locations in the world thanks to strong tenant demand, excellent transport links and limited development pipeline. Only one in seven refurbishments in London achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating while the majority of current London office stock won’t meet the expected minimum energy efficiency requirements by the end of the decade. This makes this project even more unique and set to attract institutional tenants who want to reside in an office they know is in line with best-in-class corporate ESG policies. We are excited to be part of the next stage of this building’s history and to ensure its long-term sustainability.'
