A partnership led by the former US Secretary of Treasury John Snow has completed the acquisition of the Lloyds Chambers office building located at One Portsoken Street next to the historic Tower of London.
A partnership led by the former US Secretary of Treasury John Snow has completed the acquisition of the Lloyds Chambers office building located at One Portsoken Street next to the historic Tower of London.
The partnership also includes Mike Ryan, the chairman of Silverfin Development, James Lapushner, the former head of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing business in Germany as well as an undisclosed foreign investor believed to be the Chinese privately-held group Fosun Property Holdings.
The acquisition, initially signed in July, is said to amount to £64.5 mln (€76 mln), less than the value of the outstanding senior debt on the asset, according to press reports.
Lloyds Chambers is a 195,000 sq ft (18,100 m2) office building fully let to energy giant Aon on a lease until 2018. The asset was owned by Irish property investor Patrick Rocca before the loan was put into special servicing in 2011.
Rocca bought Lloyds Chambers in 2006 and financed the acquisition with £122 mln of debt, largely provided by bank Credit Suisse. The outstanding balance currently amounts to £71 mln.
The partnership said it intends to collect the rental income from Aon for the next five years under the current lease agreement before refurbishing and re-letting the property in order to increase its capital value.
Debt financing for the acquisition was provided by Aviva Commercial Finance on behalf of the Aviva Investors UK Commercial Real Estate Senior Debt Fund. In addition, the buyers were advised by Gryphon Property Partners, Bejalo Real Estate Partners, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Paul Hastings.
