Asian investors ploughed more than EUR1 bn into the London market in January, according to research by PropertyEU Research. Indeed, Asian investors accounted for three of the top five transactions over the month.
Hong Kong-listed Chinese Estates acquired River Court, the larger of the two buildings which make up Goldman Sachs’ European headquarters on Fleet Street, for EUR 378 mln, while Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) bought the Whitefriars office building for about EUR 176 mln. Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar paid EUR 563 mln for the five-star Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair.
James Beckham, partner in charge of the City at King Sturge, characterised the River Court and Whitefriars transactions as ‘largely passive and wealth defensive rather than wealth creation’. Gresham Down advised the vendor on what it called the largest direct purchase by the Chinese in the London commercial market.
Beckham expects the Asian investment wave to hit Continental Europe in due course. ‘The Continent is a bit trickier as the markets are not nearly as transparent as London. But you know if you go to the top cities - Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid - these are well known to international investors, who in some instances have been active for 20-30 years in those areas.’
The full story appears in the March edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the following link to subscribe:
| 
.jpg)
