GWM Group has acquired an office property in central London for £110 mln (€155 mln), reflecting a yield of 4.7%.
GWM Group has acquired an office property in central London for £110 mln (€155 mln), reflecting a yield of 4.7%.
Central London property trust Welput announced this week that it exchanged contracts with GWM on 16-17 Connaught Place, London W2.
The 81,800 square feet (7,500 m2) property is multi-let to a range of tenants including Spencer Stuart and Hunter Boot. The investment volume also reflects a capital value of £1,344 per square foot.
Gennaro Giordano, managing partner at GWM Group commented: 'The acquisition of Connaught represents a first step into our new strategy aimed at offering our investor base exposure to core / core+ assets in London and other major cities, with a target size of minimum £500 mln. We acquired a well-managed and income stabilised property in Central London which we expect will further benefit from the regeneration of the Marble Arch area in the near future.'
GWM Group is an independent wealth management services group established in Geneva in the early 2000s and headquartered in Luxembourg. It employs 50 professionals in offices in Luxembourg, London, Geneva, Milan, Rome and Malta.
City refurb
Welput also announced the acquisition of the long leasehold interest in 7 Bishopsgate, London, EC2, from clients of TH Real Estate. The investment volume of £49 mln reflects a net initial yield of 4.9% (including rent guarantees) and a capital value per square foot of £873.
Comprising 56,000 sq ft (5,202 m2) of Grade A office space, 7 Bishopsgate was recently refurbished and is multi-let on rents ranging from £42.50 psf to £53.50 psf. With two vacant floors it provides Welput with the ability to offer flexible accommodation in a City occupational market that is restricted in the supply of sub-10,000 sq ft floor plates.
Welput is managed by Schroder Real Estate and advised by Quintain Estates and Development. The two transactions take the total value of acquisitions and disposals in the year to date to £340 mln.
Welput was advised on the sale of Connaught Place by Strutt & Parker and CBRE, and on the purchase of 7 Bishopsgate by CBRE. GWM Group was advised by Cushman & Wakefield and Astezar Capital, and TH Real Estate by Savills.