Legal & General is under offer to buy National Magazine House, the West End headquarters of Esquire publisher Hearst Magazines.
The fund manager has agreed to pay more than £70m for 72 Broadwick Street, W1, which is being sold by the Universities Superannuation Scheme off a guide price of £63.5m.
The asking price reflects a yield of 4.4%.
The 65,316 sq ft building comprises 54,097 sq ft of offices and 11 flats let on short leases.
Hearst’s lease on the offices expires in September 2018. It pays an average rent of just £44 per sq ft, offering L&G substantial potential to increase the building’s income.
Several UK institutions bid for the building as well as investors from the Middle East.
USS bought the property for just under £42m in 2010.
The National Magazine company was established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
