Welput fund makes maiden City of London acquisition

West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT) has acquired Bury House, a 2,500 m2 office building in the City of London, from Aberdeen Asset Management for £22.9 mln (€32 mln).

WELPUT is managed by Schroder Real Estate and advised by Quintain Estates and Development.

The purchase is WELPUT's first in the City of London following a revamp in 2014 which expanded the fund's investible area outside its core West End market across the whole of central London.

Located on the corner of Bury Street and Creechurch Lane, the 27,000 sq ft (2,500 m2) building is multi-let to six tenants including Adjusting Services and JX Nippon Oil & Energy, producing a total annual income of £1.07 mln with an average weighted unexpired lease term of eight years.

'This has been a very active period for WELPUT with this acquisition representing the first in the City of London following its modernisation,' commented Nick Montgomery, head of UK Investment at Schroder Real Estate. 'Bury House provides a stable income return with scope for growth which complements recent acquisitions such as North West House and 20 St. James’s Street, providing further redevelopment or refurbishment potential.'

Strutt & Parker acted on behalf of WELPUT, while GM Real Estate advised Aberdeen Asset Management.

WELPUT was established in 2001 as a closed-end property unit trust and was converted to a more open-ended structure in 2014. Its primary investment focus is office properties in central London.