Around the market: Thames Valley

Agents pick the most significant deals (six months to the end of July)

Kärcher, Banbury Point, M40, Oxfordshire

Type of deal Site and property acquisition

Vendor A C Lloyd and Minns Estates

Purchaser Kärcher UK

Size 85,000 sq ft on five-acre site

Price Undisclosed

Chosen by Chris White, managing director, White Commercial Chartered Surveyors

This acquisition by Kärcher will provide the company with a new UK headquarters office and training centre. There are a number of elements of the transaction that make it interesting; among others, the need to manage the procurement of the building with Kärcher’s German property management and to work on a fixed-price contract basis with the developer in “changing times”. Most important of all though will be the effect the new building has on the firm’s operational effectiveness, a substantial growth in turnover and products overshadowing the cost of the new facility. Kärcher’s relocation also reflects the ongoing process of construction in North Oxfordshire where other projects include Banbury Gateway – an out-of-town retail scheme fronting the M40 – a new distribution facility for the Entertainer and a new manufacturing headquarters for Prodrive Motorsport.

Apex, Reading

Type of deal Freehold purchase

Vendor M&G Real Estate

Purchaser Legal & General Property

Size 220,419 sq ft

Price circa £90m

Chosen by Tim Smither, partner, Knight Frank

My choice of deal is the freehold purchase of Apex – the most iconic multi-let building in Reading. This is because I believe the deal places a focus on the key fundamentals of both the subject property and the market. Reading has witnessed substantial inward investment, with £900m being spent on the comprehensive redevelopment of the train station and, in 2019, the arrival of Crossrail. Apex will benefit significantly from all this, being located adjacent to the station. The building also offers significant asset management potential including numerous reversionary rent reviews, the creation of new lettable office space and an exploitation of numerous short-term lease events in a rising market. Strengthening occupier fundamentals and an exceptional location within what is the South East’s premier office market saw investors demonstrate particular interest in this property resulting in a number of UK institutions bidding aggressively for the asset.

Ascot House, Maidenhead Office Park

Type of deal Leasing

Landlord Aberdeen Asset Management

Tenant Acenden

Size 52,000 sq ft

Terms Rent equating to £22 per sq ft

Chosen by Simon Fitch, director, South East office agency, BNP Paribas Real Estate

At 52,000 sq ft, the letting of Ascot House to financial services business Acenden is one of the largest deals in the Thames Valley this year and is my choice of the most significant transaction in 2015 for a number of reasons. The deal sees Acenden relocate from High Wycombe to be joined by Kensington Mortgages, owned by the same parent company, which is relocating from Reading International Business Park. Bringing the two businesses together under one roof will bring new efficiencies and savings to each company and illustrates the value placed upon accessibility and convenience by businesses in the Thames Valley. The double relocation also confirms that the business park market is very much alive and well in the M4 corridor. The fact that Maidenhead Office Park has accounted for a substantial proportion of the town’s recent office deals illustrates that parking levels still play a major role in the thinking of Thames Valley occupiers.

M&G funds Liberty

M&G Investments finalised a deal that involved the provision of £140m of finance for Cosgrave Property Group’s Liberty shopping centre in Romford, Essex.

Student double

In Canterbury, Knight Frank launched a search for a forward- funding partner for Canbury Holdings’ £45m Palmon Court, a 539-bed student housing scheme. And, in Portsmouth, Empiric made a £4.4m purchase of a 41-bed student scheme called the Registry