Gulf investor snaps up office building near Southampton

Claymore Group, acting on behalf of Gulf-based Rhine Property Investments, has acquired a 4,900 m² office property from Legal & General Property for £13.5 mln (EUR 17.5 mln) in an off-market transaction.

The property, located on Goodman Group's 52-hectare Solent Business Park near Southampton, is let to Zurich Insurance for a further 10 years at an annual rental of £1 mln, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.25%.

The asset was held within Legal & General's Property Unit Trust (PUT), which is the fastest growing fund in its sector and one of very few continuing to see strong inflow of capital from both retail and institutional investors, London-based Claymore Group said in a statement.

Duncan O'Neill, director at Claymore: 'This deal is Claymore's third recent success for overseas clients, following the acquisition of a 650 m² multi-let office building in Mayfair for Qatari clients and a 2,800 m² office investment in Leeds in a joint venture with a Hong Kong funding partner. Our client on this transaction, Rhine, is a Gulf based propco for whom we will be looking to acquire further prime assets, later this year, with a focus on the South East/M25 region.'

Knight Frank acted for Legal & General Property and Crossland Otter Hunt advised Claymore.