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Nabarro acts on hat-trick for Land Securities – including biggest West End sale this Year
28 July 2009
Nabarro LLP has advised commercial property investor and longstanding client of the firm, Land Securities Group PLC (Land Securities) on the sale of three major investments, including the £155 million sale of Portman House, the biggest sale in the West End this year.
Portman House, a retail and office investment in a prime location on Oxford Street, London W1, was sold to Kinloss Property Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Libyan Foreign Investment Company. The building provides 146,550 ft2 (13,615 m2) of multi-tenanted offices and retail accommodation at a total rent of £11.5million per annum, and is let to New Look, Russell & Bromley and Boots the Chemist.
Nabarro also advised Land Securities on the leasehold sale of One Wood Street, EC2 to the fund manager Aerium on behalf of the Glenn Arrow UK Property Fund for £105.5m. This modern and environmentally leading building provides 15,020 m2 of offices let to Eversheds Properties Limited and 1,500 m2 of fully let retail accommodation at a total rent of £8.4m per annum.
Finally, Nabarro advised Land Securities on the sale of all of its interests in 98 Theobald's Road to Crescent Heights for £43 million. Crescent Heights is a group of real estate investment companies based in Miami, Florida, USA. This is the first UK purchase by the Crescent Heights group. The 133,000 ft2 (12,400 m2) property is let to Warner Bros Entertainment Limited until 2014 at a current rent of £3,895,000 pa.
Nabarro real estate partner Nicholas Vergette led the team on all transactions with assistance from senior real estate associates Tom Goldsmith, Lisa Mantle and Michele Salter. The team advised Land Securities on all legal issues for each of the sales including real estate, tax, construction and corporate.
Paul Harbour at Kingsley Napley advised Kinloss Property Limited. Iain Morpeth at Clifford Chance advised the Glenn Arrow UK Property Fund. Graham Chase at Olswang dealt with the tax issues for Crescent Heights and Jeremy Walden at Herbert Smith dealt with the other issues on their behalf.
Commenting on the sales, Nicholas Vergette said:
"Completing three transactions in three days is quite a hat trick, especially considering the size and nature of the deals. Acting for Land Securities on all three deals at the same time in a notoriously tough market has been a great opportunity for the team."
If you would like any further information or have any queries please contact:
Charlotte Collins-White
T +44 (0)20 7566 9706
charlottet@lansons.com
