A Singaporean investor is poised to buy one of WeWork’s freehold office buildings in the City of London, in a deal which could net the co-working firm £150m.
Sun Venture, which bought 1 & 2 Ludgate, EC4, from Landsec in the biggest central London office deal of 2020, is under offer to buy 120 Moorgate, EC2, which WeWork occupies and owns via its property investment vehicle, Ark.
EG understands the deal has surpassed the £147m guide price for the site, which was put up for sale in the third quarter of this year through Knight Frank.
WeWork bought the building in 2017 for £40m, before undertaking a significant refurbishment in 2019. That involved replacing its dated facades, in part to improve its thermal and acoustic properties.
Inside, existing office space on the upper floors was refurbished, with gym facilities and a bicycle store added to the basement levels in place of an underground car park.
The deal signals growing investor confidence in the flexible working company as a lead tenant. WeWork listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month, after a torrid two years of financial difficulties and management upheaval. The pandemic had also dampened buyers’ appetites for buildings anchored by flexible working companies.
Market sources have indicated that the company’s successful initial public offering has gone some way to assuaging investor concerns about the company’s outlook, and noted a rising interest in flex space in the broader office market. Other tenants at the site include Barclays Bank, which has a retail branch on the ground floor.
Sun Venture, set up by Singaporean entrepreneur Ricky Au in 2006, made its debut UK real estate investment in July 2020, buying 1 New Oxford Street, WC1, from Nuveen for £174m.
Then, it made the biggest office investment play of 2020, when in December last year it bought the 389,000 sq ft pair of office buildings at 1 & 2 New Ludgate, EC4, from Landsec for £552m.
All parties declined to comment.
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Image © Darling Associates
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