Proctor &Gamble’s sale-and-leaseback on Surrey campus attracts MEPC and the Pru
Mark Cooper
Bidders are lining up for Procter & Gamble’s Surrey office campus, on the market in a £60m sale-and-leaseback deal.
The detergent-to-crisps giant is also selling 7.7ha (19 acres) of development land, with outline planning permission for 13,935-18,580m2 (150,000-200,000 sq ft) of offices, in addition to the 13,935m2 (150,000 sq ft) office complex at Brooklands.
Agents believe the development land could fetch up to £5m per ha (£2m per acre).
MEPC, Development Securities and a number of UK institutions, including Prudential, are believed to be preparing bids. The scheme offers long-term income as well as a development opportunity.
P&G purchased Brooklands from Trafalgar House in 1993 and exercised an option to buy the development land for £2.5m per ha (£1m per acre).
P&G is offering to pay rents of £301 per m2 (£28 per sq ft) on an institutional lease for the scheme. Sony UK and Marks & Spencer also occupy buildings on Brooklands.
P&G announced 15,000 job cuts in June, more than a 10th of its workforce, as part of a major restructuring designed to raise profits. The company has not revealed how many of the jobs will go in the UK.
CB Hillier Parker and Healey & Baker are marketing the development. Neither firm would comment on the deal.
One M25 agent commented: “This is a very chunky deal for this market, and the development land should also attract a lot of interest.”
