LGP acquires three buildings in Cambridge for EUR 42m

Legal & General Property has acquired the long leasehold interest in three office buildings at Cambridge Science Park in the UK on behalf of its Managed Fund for £35 mln (EUR 42 mln), reflecting a net initial yield of 6.62%. The vendor is Trinity College, Cambridge.

The property comprises three high-quality office buildings completed in February 2009 and arranged over ground, first and second floors. Occupying a 2.6 hectare site, the buildings provide approximately 10,000 m² of office accommodation along with 382 parking spaces. Let to two tenants, Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings and Mundiphama Research, the property holds an average unexpired lease term of 9.58 years at a combined rent of circa £2.45 mln per annum.

Cambridge Science Park was established by Trinity College Cambridge in 1970 and is the UK's oldest science park. The park, which provides over 140,000 m² of office accommodation, is home to over 100 high-tech companies ranging from small start-ups and spin-outs to subsidiaries of multinational corporations.

The latest acquisition by LPG follows the purchase of buildings 214, 216 and 240 at the science park on behalf of the Property Unit Trust in June 2010 for £17.75 mln, representing a net initial yield of 7.77%.

Established in 1971 the Managed Fund is LGP's longest operating property fund and invests in low to medium risk assets on behalf of over 350 occupational pension funds. Having outperformed the CAPS Pooled median benchmark it remains in the top quartile of its peer group over one, three and five years. The fund has recently been building on the increased allocation from pension funds for real estate by new purchases totalling over £202 mln in the year to date.

Jones Lang LaSalle acted for Legal & General Property and Bidwells advised Trinity College, Cambridge on the sale.