Fund manager Samsung Asset Management has followed a wave of other Korean investors in choosing the City of London for its first overseas real estate acquisition.
Fund manager Samsung Asset Management has followed a wave of other Korean investors in choosing the City of London for its first overseas real estate acquisition.
Samsung SRA Asset Management, acting through Cushman & Wakefield Investors, acquired the London headquarters of law firm Pinsent Masons at 30 Crown Place, London EC2.
The purchase price is believed to be in the region of £145 mln (€170 mln), reflecting a net yield of 4.7%.
Samsung SRA is a real estate fund manager that invests in core and core-plus commercial real estate in Korea and overseas on behalf of Korean institutions. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Life Insurance, which co-invests in SRA's funds.
The vendor of 30 Crown Place was German closed-end fund manager Hannover Leasing, which had bought the building in late 2011 for about £140 mln.
The property - close to the Broadgate Estate and Liverpool Street station - comprises almost 18,000 m2 of Grade A office space, and is primarily let on a long lease to major UK law firm Pinsent Masons.
Cushman & Wakefield Investors said that the location is expected to benefit from the Crossrail connections in the near future as well as ongoing developments in Broadgate.
Samsung SRA and CWI were advised by Cushman & Wakefield and Ashurst. Hannover Leasing was advised by Avison Young, Jones Lang LaSalle and Berwin Leighton Paisner.