M&G Real Estate has sold a 40,000 sq ft vacant City office block at 108 Cannon Street, EC4, as it continues to offload assets from its suspended property fund to provide liquidity for investors.
Hong Kong developer Nan Fung has exchanged contracts to buy the building for around £40m in an off-market deal. M&G bought the block in May 2014 from Chenavari Investment Management for around £21.5m. A comprehensive refurbishment by development managers Beltane Asset Management was completed earlier this month.
The property was held in M&G’s open-ended property fund for retail investors, which has been suspended for trading since 5 July. Last week, Fiona Rowley, manager of M&G’s UK property fund, said the £4bn fund was targeting a liquidity level of 15%, which it could achieve in the next month with its pipeline of £200m of assets under offer. However, she said that broader market conditions will also influence re-opening. It is likely that more assets from the fund will be sold.
GM Real Estate acted for M&G Real Estate; Nan Fung was unrepresented.
Properties which have already been released from the fund’s portfolio include:
• New Square Bedfont Lakes Office Park, Heathrow
• Parc Trostre Retail Park, Llanelli
• Riverside House, London, SE1
• Wales Designer Outlet, Bridgend
• The Gracechurch Centre, Sutton Coldfield
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