Aegon cancels Colmore Row sale – again

  Aegon Asset Management has cancelled the sale of a prime Birmingham office block.   In May, Aegon instructed GVA Grimley to sell 55 Colmore Row for £37.9m – an 8.25% yield – to cash in on increased investor appetite in the city.   However, the group has now backed out of a deal to sell the 136,000 sq ft building to German fund manager SEB.   Sources said that Aegon, which manages £36bn of assets, no longer needed to raise cash for the retail fund that owns the building as it had sold a number of other properties.   One said: “Because Aegon has got these other sales through, it is back in cash-positive territory and can now afford to keep hold of 55 Colmore Row.”   The building, which is let to law firm Wragge & Co for a further eight years, also attracted interest from financial services firm Credit Suisse.   It is the second time that a proposed sale of 55 Colmore Row by Aegon has failed to come to fruition.   Last year, US private equity firm Carlyle Group withdrew its £55m offer for the property after Wragge & Co announced its plans to relocate to Ballymore’s Snow Hill Plaza.  lisa.pilkington@rbi.co.uk