Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Lembaga Tabung Haji has bought Unilever’s Surrey headquarters for £75.8m – a 5.9% net initial yield.
The sharia-compliant fund, advised by Gatehouse Bank, has bought the 176,100 sq ft asset, in Leatherhead, from LondonMetric Property.
It was purpose-built for Unilever in 2008 and acquired by LondonMetric in June 2012 for £61.2m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.85%.
The disposal generates an ungeared total return of 16.1% per annum and a geared IRR of 32.8%.
Patrick Vaughan, chairman of LondonMetric, said: “The successful disposal of Unilever House ahead of the September valuation is evidence of strong investment demand for quality offices outside of London.”
He added: “The team’s ability to capture an attractive yield on this disposal provides us with further scope to recycle our investment funds into opportunities in line with our strategy and in our favoured sectors of out of town and retail distribution, where we believe we can deliver attractive long-term growth.”
Knight Frank and Downey Turner Real Estate advised the vendor; Savills acted for the purchaser.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
