Investors from Hong Kong and the Middle East and a UK REIT took advantage of the market slowdown to buy in the UK.
In a Hong Kong stock exchange announcement, Liu Chong Hing Investment said it had made its first investment in the UK, paying £44 mln for a block on central London’s Oxford Street. The Liu family said it was taking advantage of the market slowdown to make the move and wanted to buy more outside Hong Kong and mainland China.
M&G Real Estate continues to sell off some of its UK office portfolio, building by building. London Square, a complex of three offices in Guildford, was bought by Middle East investor Sidra Capital for £41 mln, a 9.53% initial yield. According to Costar, M&G had first looked for a buyer last year, at £59 mln for the trio, a 6.5% yield.
Meanwhile, British Land is picking up its fourth UK retail park investment in as many weeks. It exchanged contracts to buy Westwood and Westwood Gateway in the south east town of Thanet, for £55 mln. The parks last traded in 2017 for £80 mln.
Corum also made two mid-sized, long-leased Benelux office acquisitions, citing ‘a window of opportunity for the purchase of real estate assets.’
Not all Asian investors are buying. In the face of value falls, refinancing deadlines can crystallise losses: at Canary Wharf, Cheung Kai Group is a forced seller after failing to repay debt owed to Lloyds Bank, Bloomberg reported. Two buildings it bought there in 2017 are on the market at much lower prices.
Two companies moved to keep shareholders happy by not only securing refinancing to pay down expensive bonds but raising enough to return cash. Centre Parcs, the holiday villages business owned by Blackstone, issued £648 mln of bonds in two tranches, priced at 5.9% and 6.1% - still cheaper than the £440 mln of 7.2% bonds which will be repaid.
Neinor raised €140 mln from three banks which enables the residential developer to redeem the outstanding €143 mln balance of its green bond. The 4.17% loan cost is lower than the interest cost of the bond and the Spanish company said the refinancing marked the start of a strategy which includes distributing €600 mln to shareholders by 2027.
We also track other assets on the market and other deals and financings, plus Blackstone’s final close for its tenth global real estate fund - thought to be the largest-ever for a real estate vehicle.
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