Singapore’s listed property group, Ho Bee Land has exchanged contracts to acquire the Scalpel office tower at 52 Lime Street in London in a share deal worth £718 mln (€860 mln).
Ho Bee Land said that it has paid a deposit of £35.9 mln to secure the asset and will pay the balance upon closing on 7 March 2022.
Dubbed ‘The Scalpel’ because of its sleek and geometrical intersecting reflective planes, it was designed by world renowned American architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox Associates and completed in early 2019. The landmark office tower is 206.5 metres in height and boasts a BREEAM “Excellent” rating.
It has 406,000 sq ft (37,718 m2) of best-in-class office space spread over 36 storeys and three retail units at ground and basement levels. The building is predominantly multi-let to reputable tenants from the insurance, financial, legal and technology sectors. The long tenancies of the leases offer secure 10-year passing rent of £29 mln translating to an attractive yield of 4%.
The asset was put up for sale by landlord WR Berkley, the American insurance group, for roughly £820 mln at end 2020.
Nicholas Chua, CEO of HBL, said: ‘London has proved to be very resilient in spite of Brexit and the pandemic. It has been able to maintain its position as a key global financial hub with a robust office investment market. We are very excited to be able to seize this rare opportunity to acquire a landmark office tower which ticks all the boxes for quality, distinction and sustainability. We remain confident of London’s long-term economic prospects and attractiveness to global investors.’
With this acquisition, Ho Bee Land’s total investment in London will increase to more than £2 bn.
