US technology giant Verizon, which owns Yahoo and Aol, has agreed to take 88,500 sq ft of office space at an Oxford Properties and Tamasek-owned building in London’s Holborn.
The company has taken two floors at MidCity Place, WC1, on a 10-year term, at a rent believed to be in the region of £70 per sq ft.
Verizon will consolidate its London-based AOL and Yahoo teams, which are being integrated and rebranded as “Oath”, in the building.
It will start moving staff from Almacantar’s 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2, and Lazari’s Shropshire House, WC1, at the end of the year.
Verizon became the official owner of Yahoo in June, and plans to combine the company’s assets with those of AOL, which Verizon bought in 2015.
Oath will contain sites like HuffPost, Yahoo Sports, TechCrunch, and Engadget, as well as apps and services like Alto and Brightroll. Tumblr will also fall under the Oath umbrella.
Oxford Properties confirmed the deal this morning; half of the space will involve Verizon subleasing a floor previously occupied by infrastructure services firm AECOM.
MidCity Place, situated on the north side of High Holborn, central London, is a Kohn Pederson Fox-designed building providing more than 350,000 sq ft of office space over nine floors.
Current occupiers include Mitsubishi Corporation, Frontier Economics and QIC, together with retailers Kimchee, TM Lewin, Eat and Sainsbury’s.
MidCity Place is owned in a 50/50 joint venture between Oxford Properties and Temasek, with Oxford managing the asset on behalf of the jv.
Oxford Properties completed the £142m purchase of a 50% stake in MidCity Place in 2011.
Henry Shearer, director of asset management, Oxford Properties Europe, said: “We are delighted to welcome Verizon to the building and to facilitate the next steps in the continued evolution of their business.”
Dirk Schlotter, director of international real estate operations at Verizon, said: “MidCity Place will be a great addition to Verizon’s existing locations in London. Our intention is to begin moving Verizon’s Oath team into the building by the end of 2017.”
Farebrother and JLL acted for Oxford Properties, JLL for Verizon, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield acted for AECOM.
To send feedback, e-mail nick.johnstone@egi.co.uk or tweet @n_johnstone or @estatesgazette
