Great Portland Estates has sold Facebook’s new HQ at Rathbone Square, W1, to Deka Immobilien Investment for £435m – a net initial yield of 4.25% – as tipped by Estates Gazette in November.
The development at 35/50 Rathbone Place, which is expected to be completed in late March, has 242,800 sq ft of office space prelet to Facbeook on 15-year leases at an initial annual rent of £17.8m.
It also has 25,200 sq ft of shops, of which 13,900 sq ft is under offer, and 142 private flats. Some 139 of the flats have already been sold.
The estimated rental value of the whole scheme was £19.7m as of September 2016.
GPE said that with a 7.3% LTV following the sale, it is proposing to return the expected £110m whole-life surplus to shareholders through a special dividend accompanied by a share consolidation.
Deka bought the site through Rathbone Place Jersey, which it owns with WestInvest Gesellschaft Für Investmentfonds.
Toby Courtauld, chief executive of GPE, said: “Rathbone Square is our largest ever development scheme and this sale continues our successful strategy of recycling capital out of assets where we have created significant value.”
James Hammond, head of West End investment at CBRE, said: “This deal, one of the largest transactions in recent years, underlines the strength of appetite and commitment from overseas capital for London and UK real estate, and indeed London’s position as a global technology hub.”
GPE was advised by CBRE, GM Real Estate, Nabarro, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Cazenove and Lazard. Savills advised Deka.
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