Amundi has struck a deal to sell Admiral’s headquarters in Cardiff in what is thought to be one of the largest office investment transactions on record in the Welsh capital.
The French investor, which is owned jointly by Crédit Agricole , has agreed the sale with LaSalle Investment Management, which is buying Ty Admiral on behalf of the Royal Mail Pension Plan for close to £90m, reflecting a yield of around 4.25%.
LaSalle IM fought off competition from a number of long-income funds that drove up the bidding above the asking price.
The 220,000 sq ft building on David Street is let to the insurance company until 2025 and was originally developed by Stoford Developments.
The sale of the 11-storey asset is part of a broader sell-off of a £500m portfolio being disposed of by Amundi known as The Amundi Collection. The company appointed Cushman & Wakefield in May to engineer an exit from the UK market.
The portfolio includes eight buildings. The others are:
■ The Equinox, 19 Cadogan Street, Glasgow: a 65,000 sq ft building acquired in 2015 for £33.4m, a 5.25% net initial yield.
■ 1 Kings Arms Yard, EC2: a 57,000 sq ft office building.
■ 2 Copthall Avenue, EC2: a 31,000 sq ft building acquired in 2014 for £19.4m, a yield of 4.7%.
■ 11 Westferry Circus, E14: a 136,000 sq ft building acquired in 2015 for £89.7m, a yield of 5.07%.
■ 8 Fenchurch Place, EC3: a 97,000 sq ft building acquired in 2016 for £80m, a 5.41% yield.
■ 44 Featherstone Street, EC1: a 43,000 sq ft building acquired in 2013 for £20.2m, a 5.63% yield.
■ 46-48 Grosvenor Gardens, SW1: a 17,000 sq ft West End office building.
The majority of the buildings were bought by Amundi in 2015 as part of its €1bn purchase of the Aqua portfolio from Union Investments. The portfolio was made up of 17 office properties in the UK, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany.
JLL is acting for LaSalle.
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