Taiwanese insurance company Shin Kong Life has completed its first UK real estate acquisition, paying Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors £136.2m – a 4.15% yield – for 40 Gracechurch Street, EC3.
The sale nets a significant premium for Cornerstone, which bought the 122,494 sq ft building on behalf of an institutional investor for £94m in August 2013, at which point it was less than half let.
Full occupancy was achieved with the letting of 12,628 sq ft to Hampden Capital in August this year following a refurbishment.
Darren Hutchinson, senior director of Cornerstone Europe, said: “This transaction marks the conclusion of what has been a very successful investment and represents our first full turnaround of a large-scale London office asset.”
GM Real Estate acted for Cornerstone; JLL advised Shin Kong Life.
