Chinese Estates has acquired River Court, the larger of the two buildings which make up Goldman Sachs' European headquarters on Fleet Street in the City of London. The Hong Kong-listed property group run by billionaire Joseph Lau paid about £280 mln (EUR 334 mln), reflecting a net initial yield of 5.25% for the 40,000-m2 building.

River Court was built for Goldman Sachs 10 years ago by Japanese developer Itochu and it is let for a further 10 years to the US investment bank. The flagship office scheme was acquired for £246.5 mln in 2001 by Warren & Partners on behalf of a group of wealthy Irish investors.

Warren & Partners was advised on the sale of the building to Chinese Estates by Gresham Down Capital Partners, the central London investment consultancy. Stephen Down, managing partner of Gresham Down Capital Partners said: 'These large high-profile assets continue to attract strong interest from overseas investors who view London as their preferred investment location, and a safe haven during this period of global economic uncertainty.'

Gresham Down said that this is the largest direct purchase by the Chinese in the London commercial market but it expects further central London investment from Asia in 2011.

It is understood that Chinese Estates secured the deal ahead of competition from overseas bidders that include US private equity and Asian and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.

Knight Frank represented Chinese Estates. Knight Frank investment partner Edward Fairweather said: 'This is our client's first major commercial investment in central London and is representative of the type of first class prime investment that our overseas clients are seeking.'