Paris-headquartered Iroko Zen has expanded outside the eurozone for the first time with the acquisition of a London office at 90 Union Street, SE1.
It has bought the 17,973 sq ft property from CBRE Global Investors for £14.4m. CBRE GI paid around £10m for the asset a decade ago.
The former warehouse has been recently refurbished to provide more office space and a new reception. It features a mixture of open-plan office, meeting rooms and a large kitchen/breakout area. The workspace is majority occupied by renewable energy firm Sonnedix UK Services.
The French investment firm, which is already active in Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and its homeland of France, said it was eyeing expansion in the UK to take advantage of opportunities it believes have arisen as a result of both Brexit and the Covid pandemic.
While this first investment is in the office sector, the group said it would look across asset classes for opportunities.
Richard Stewart, partner for European investment at Knight Frank, which advised the investor, said: “We are working closely with [Iroko] on a number of projects across the UK and Europe.”
Faustine Schreder, investment manager at Iroko Zen, said: “With its first acquisition in the UK, Iroko Zen is exploring a new investment playground with real opportunities.”
She said that the 90 Union Street acquisition demonstrated Iroko Zen’s commitment to diversified and high performing real estate assets, adding that the team would “continue to closely monitor the UK market, while exploring other countries”.
The investor has a portfolio of around 10 assets in Ireland and 106 assets in total.
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Photo © Knight Frank
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