Norway's giant oil pension fund Norges Bank Real Estate Management has acquired 100% of the long leasehold interest in 355-361 Oxford Street in central London in an all-equity deal worth £124 mln (€148 mln).
The seller of the property was Aberdeen UK Property Fund.
Fund manager Aberdeen recently confirmed that it had put up a number of properties on the market in an effort to rebuild the fund's liquidity position. In addition to 355 Oxford Street, Aberdeen AM is believed to be selling another major asset in the fund, 10 Hammersmith Grove, for £105 mln.
The sales follow a rush by retail investors to redeem their cash following the Brexit vote in the UK referendum last month. However, earlier this week the fund manager said it was lifting a two-week trading suspension on the £3.2 bn (€3.7 bn) fund.
355 Oxford Street, a 59,000 sq ft (5,500 m2) retail and office building, has a long leasehold from the City of London Corporation with an 139-year unexpired term. The asset is mainly let to Boots, which occupies 31,500 sq ft of retail space and 14,500 sq ft of offices.
The transaction includes two adjoining buildings, which comprise office, restaurant and retail space totalling 13,000 sq ft.
Two weeks ago Aberdeen Asset Management cut the value of its UK fund by 17%, effectively imposing a levy on investors who decide to cash in their fund units. It also extended the temporary suspension to 'provide additional time for investors to consider their options in these exceptional circumstances'.
Several major property fund managers, accounting for more than half of the £25 bn open-ended commercial real estate sector for private investors in the UK, halted trading during the aftermath of the Brexit vote when they were faced with a spike in redemption requests from unit holders.
