Landsec has exchanged contracts with Sun Venture for the £552m sale of 1 and 2 New Ludgate, EC4.
The buildings, built by Landsec in 2015, occupy a 1.5-acre sit by the Old Bailey and provide a combined 389,615 sq ft of office and retail space and £23.7m of annual income.
Japanese-owned Mizuho Bank occupies all the office space in 2 New Ludgate, which comprises 206,310 sq ft of office and retail space, while the 185,305 sq ft at 1 New Ludgate is let to several occupiers, including law firm Ropes & Gray International and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Both buildings were valued at £546.4m on 31 March 2020.
Completion of the deal is expected before the end of the year.
It is the second commercial property purchase for Sun Venture in the UK, having bought 1 New Oxford Street, WC1, for circa £174m in July from Nuveen Real Estate on behalf of the Central London Office Fund and British Airways Pension Trustees.
Landsec said it would use the proceeds from the sale initially to pay down debt and would then look at reinvesting in growth opportunities.
Marcus Geddes, head of property at Landsec, said: “The sale of 1 and 2 New Ludgate crystallises the value created by our team as we continue to execute our strategy of optimising our central London portfolio through a targeted recycling programme into new opportunities.”
Ricky Au, chairman of Sun Venture, added: “1 and 2 New Ludgate are best-in-class assets and we are pleased to have them in our portfolio. London remains attractive to investors taking a long-term view, and this second acquisition forms part of our strategy to expand our presence overseas. Sun Venture remains committed to deliver value to our tenants, investors, and business associates for our London assets.”
Landsec was advised by CBRE and BCLP. JLL and CMS acted for Sun Venture.
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