The property fund responsible for investing China’s $4tn (£2.4tn) foreign exchange reserves has emerged as the backer of the £310m purchase of Sainsbury’s HQ.
Gingko Tree Investments has teamed up with US investor Tishman Speyer and a third party to buy 33 Holborn, EC1. The deal is expected to exchange this week.
It is the first time Tishman has teamed up with Gingko, which has previously worked in the UK with AXA Real Estate Investment Management and Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management.
Estates Gazette revealed last month that Tishman’s European Core Fund had placed the 320,000 sq ft trophy under offer at a price reflecting a yield of around 4.8%.
The building is being sold by Union Investments, via Savills, and is let to the supermarket giant until 2025.
Gingko has now been involved in more than £1bn of London office deals, including the £285m purchase of Drapers Gardens, EC2, and the £472m buyout of Ropemaker Place, EC2, with AXA and Korea Life. Both deals emerged in 2012.
Its focus has since shifted outside of London. Last year, it bought One Angel Square in Manchester for £142m and more recently has been linked with the purchase of a £270m half share in Land Securities’ Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol.
UK-registered Gingko is a subsidiary of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
SAFE’s foreign exchange reserves hit a new high in the first quarter of this year, approaching $4tn – a $129bn increase on the end of 2013.
Last year, Tishman struck a deal with China Vanke, the country’s largest residential developer, to build 655 homes in San Francisco, marking its entry to the US market.
GM Real Estate is acting for the purchasers on 33 Holborn.
All parties declined to comment.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
