Mayfair Capital Investment has made its first acquisitions for a new real estate fund, more than a year after becoming part of Swiss Life Asset Managers.
The UK property specialist has bought two assets for £72.3m (€81.7m) on behalf of its Zurich-headquartered parent.
Both assets will be held by a €300m fund established in November.
Mario Holenstein, portfolio manager at Swiss Life Asset Managers, said: “The new fund will invest in core and core-plus properties in European large cities, regional centres and their agglomerations.
“The focus of the investments will be on the European core markets of Germany, France, Austria, Benelux, the UK, Scandinavia and southern Europe.”
Mayfair Capital said it paid £37.2m for the freehold of 6 Queen Street, a 70,940sqft office building in Leeds built in 2016. It also acquired the British Gas building in the Oxford Business Park in Oxfordshire for £35m.
Rockspring Property Investment Managers sold 6 Queen Street on behalf of Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust.
The second to fifth floors of the property are let to Burberry until 2027. The ground and first floors are vacant but subject to a rent guarantee.
Phil Sturdy, investment director at Mayfair Capital, said “This asset matches our client’s income requirement and reflects our investment strategy of investing in high quality buildings, on long leases, let to strong covenants to deliver our investors attractive, low-risk income returns.
“Leeds had a record breaking year in 2017 with city-centre office take-up exceeding 1m sqft, the highest recorded. Accordingly, we believe that the quality of 6 Queen Street combined with the level of occupier demand in Leeds gives positive scope for future enhancement of the asset.”
The British Gas building is let to GB Gas Holdings until 2029.
Sturdy added: “With just under 500,000sqft of office take-up in Oxfordshire during 2017, Oxfordshire has also had a record-breaking year. Science and technology firms continue to locate in and around Oxford to capitalise on the skilled workforce that Oxford University produces.
“This is a substantial, well-let, reversionary office investment which, like the Leeds purchase, was bought off-market.”
