Privately-owned merchant bank Evans Randall, which acquired London's landmark Gherkin tower for EUR 950 mln in a 50-50 partnership with Germany's IVG last February, has spent almost as much in transactions in July. As part of the company's strategy to acquire trophy buildings in the key financial hubs in Europe, Evans Randall bought 5 Canada Square in Canary Wharf from the Royal Bank of Scotland for EUR 670 mln in late July. Evans Randall chairman Michael Evans noted the transaction was the single largest investment by his company in the UK.
Privately-owned merchant bank Evans Randall, which acquired London's landmark Gherkin tower for EUR 950 mln in a 50-50 partnership with Germany's IVG last February, has spent almost as much in transactions in July. As part of the company's strategy to acquire trophy buildings in the key financial hubs in Europe, Evans Randall bought 5 Canada Square in Canary Wharf from the Royal Bank of Scotland for EUR 670 mln in late July. Evans Randall chairman Michael Evans noted the transaction was the single largest investment by his company in the UK.
The 14-storey building was constructed in 2002 and comprises over 515,000 square foot (almost 50,000 m2) of office space. The property is let to Credit Suisse International on a 25-year lease with 10 of the 14 floors being sublet to Bank of America. With an annual rent of just under EUR 30 mln. The transaction price reflects an initial yield of about 4.4%, Evans Randall said in a statement.
'Having been awarded exclusivity on this investment, Evans Randall were able to complete the transaction within 10 working days. This follows the trend of other short timescale acquisitions by Evans Randall such as the purchases of 3M’s headquarters in Bracknell, the Financial Services Authority headquarters in Canary Wharf, and ABN Amro's UK headquarters at Bishopsgate in London, EC2,' Evans Randall said.
Full debt facilities were provided by Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking and Evans Randall were advised by their retained real estate advisors CBRE. Furthermore, Clifford Chance represented Evans Randall in the acquisition and Lazard & Co, SJ Berwin and Allen & Overy were advisors to Royal Bank of Scotland.
Days later, Evans Randall Europe acquired a portfolio of 58 retail outlets spread across Germany for EUR 175 mln, at a net initial yield of close to 7.3%. The principal tenants are Aldi, Lidl and Edeka, three of the largest food retailers in Germany. This was Evans Randall's second significant retail investment in Germany, having acquired the Konigsbau Passagen Shopping Centre in Stuttgart for EUR 220 mln in October 2006. Robert Kanerick, managing director of Evans Randall Europe, said the company is 'actively seeking to expand its retail portfolio in Germany further'.
Evans Randall announced on 26 July that it had sold 3M's European headquarters in Brachnell, UK to Prupim for £92 mln (EUR 136 mln).
