London & Stamford has exchanged contracts to buy Marlow International in Buckinghamshire from Avestus for £50.2m.
The purchase represents one of the first major asset sales from the Royal Bank of Scotland’s and Blackstone’s £1.4bn Project Isobel portfolio of distressed loans, which is controlled through their Avestus joint venture.
The price represents a net initial yield of 8.9%.
The 231,000 sq ft office building was comprehensively refurbished in 2000 and is fully let to Allergan, Veolia Water Solutions and Dun & Bradstreet for a weighted average unexpired term of seven years.
It is L&S’s second office purchase in the South East in as many weeks after it bought Unilever House in Leatherhead for £60m.
L&S chairman Raymond Mould said: “Marlow International is a high-quality property in an attractive location offering excellent cash yields combined with a high-quality secure tenant mix and attractive asset management opportunities.
“These [latest] deals when combined with our acquisition of Moore House on 22 June 2012, complete circa £260m of the potential investments I advised on in my statement at our year-end results.”
Knight Frank advised Avestus.
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
