Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint has confirmed its purchase of Oaktree Capital Management and Patrizia’s UK business park portfolio.
Frasers Centrepoint announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Frasers Property International, had entered into sale and purchase agreements for four business parks, with a conditional purchase of a fifth asset.
The company bought the four income-producing parks for an aggregate purchase consideration of about £686m.
The acquisition comprises 4.9m sq ft of built area across four freehold business park assets: Winnersh Triangle, Reading; Chineham Park, Basingstoke; Watchmoor Park, Camberley; and Hillington Park, Glasgow.
The company has also entered into a conditional agreement with the vendor to acquire another business park, Maxis, Bracknell, subject to conditions relating to net operating yield and Maxis achieving an occupancy of at least 95%.
Oaktree and Patrizia spent £688m putting the portfolio together in 2013 and 2014.
It is expected Frasers will look to selectively sell the assets on over the next few years.
Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, group chief executive officer of Frasers, said: “The acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to grow overseas presence and recurring income sources. The group has been in the UK and Europe for more than 15 years, and we now extend our presence from the residential, hospitality, industrial and logistics sectors to include the commercial and business park sector. Post-acquisition, on a pro forma basis, the group will have around $4.2bn of assets in the UK and Europe, and commercial properties as a proportion of FCL’s S$26.8bn of total assets will increase to around 30%.
“We can also potentially benefit from the ‘network effect’, given that we are already in the industrial, logistics, commercial and business park sectors in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and Thailand.”
JLL advised Oaktree.
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