Zara billionaire Amancio Ortega is buying the Apple store in Glasgow for in excess of £48m – more than £7m above the asking price.
The corner block on Buchanan Street and St Vincent Street, Glasgow, which is home to the Apple store, was put up for sale with an asking price of £41.4m at the beginning of September. Royal London instructed CBRE and local agency MWM to market the mixed-use opportunity. Ortega has placed the asset under offer through his real estate arm, Ponte Gadea.
A sale at £48m is a further vote of confidence from international investors in the Scottish property market.
High-profile deals of the past year include German investor Triuva’s acquisition of Quartermile 4 in May for £68m.
Most recently Danish fashion mogul and Scotland’s second-biggest landlord Anders Holch Povlsen bought Jenners department store in Edinburgh for £53m.
The property, at 147 Buchanan Street and 48-72 St Vincent Street, is fully let and generates £2.6m pa in rent.
In addition to Glasgow’s flagship Apple store, the ground-floor retail units, which cover 88,870 sq ft, are leased to Skipton Building Society, TSB Bank and Mitchell & Butlers.
There is also 61,335 sq ft of office space on the upper floors which is leased to Apple, SMS Connections, Brewin Dolphin, Mono Consultants and BTO Solicitors.
Royal London had owned the property for more than 20 years and will look to reinvest proceeds from the sale into further acquisitions.
The investor also owns retail units on Buchanan Street and Gordon Street in Glasgow that it is not currently planning on selling.
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