Prupim buys £92m office building in Edinburgh

Prupim, the property arm of British life insurer Prudential, has purchased the headquarters of Scottish Equitable in Edinburgh in a £92mln off-market deal with the Aegon UK Property Fund, an investment vehicle of Dutch insurance group Aegon. Prupim said it purchased the building on behalf of one of its annuity funds, Prudential Retirement Income.

The property is let to Scottish Equitable on a 30-year lease from July 2007 with annual fixed rent uplifts. The building is located on approximately 21 acres in Edinburgh business park, close to the city's airport. It comprises more than 263,191 sq ft (24,500 m2) of office accommodation over three floors and is arranged around a central courtyard.

'We are pleased we have agreed on a mutually beneficial transaction with Aegon off-market and in a short period of time to satisfy the appetite of one of our high-lease value funds, Prudential Retirement Income,' said Steffan Francis, Prupim's director of Institutional Funds. 'Over the last five months we have invested some £650mln on behalf of our high-lease value funds, which also include Prudential Annuities Limited and the M&G Secured Property Income Fund, which is an open-ended fund available to institutional investors seeking long-term secure cash flows with a high level of inflation protection.'

Prupim was advised by Michael Rogers Whitehouse and Bushe Gower. King Sturge advised Aegon.