Legal & General Property completed £1.7 bn (EUR 2 bn) of direct property transactions in 2011. The UK-based insurer continues to be one of the most active investors in the UK commercial property market.

In 2011, LGP acquired 19 assets for approximately £970 mln and sold another 18 assets for £710 mln. Deals ranged in size from circa £3 mln to over £300 mln, the largest being the acquisition of the Rolls Building on Fetter Lane from Delancey for £305 mln. The company also made its debut into the student accommodation sector, with the purchase of a 45-year income strip in Imperial College's new 566-bed Battersea development, Griffon Studios, which it acquired for £116 mln, as well as the new Academy for English Football in Burton upon Trent, which is due to complete in June in time for this year´s summer Olympics.

In December alone, LGP completed over £655 mln of transactions, the last of which was finalised on the 23rd and comprised the acquisition of 1 City Place in Gatwick from RREEF for £39 mln. The asset was subsequently let to Nestle.

Over the course of 2011, LGP raised a total of £1.4 bn of new equity which included capital secured from a number of new sources, including major international institutional investors based in the Middle East, Asia and Scandinavia.