Singaporean investment manager HE Capital London has acquired 147-155 Wardour Street in Soho from Hong Kong investor Lai Wing-To for circa £35m.
The deal, which reflects a net initial yield of close to 6%, is the first acquisition for HE Capital’s circa £200m new London-focused fund.
The 27,123 sq ft, six-storey mixed-use asset was one of three West End assets – collectively referred to as the Trinity portfolio – offered for sale at the start of the year by Lai Wing-To.
HE Capital’s fund has been set up as a variable capital company (VCC), with the Singaporean structure facilitating the set-up of asset-level sub-funds for each asset, giving fund investors discretion on which deals they want to participate in.
Imran Ellahi, chief investment officer at HE Capital, said: “This purchase affirms our intention to actively invest into the London market where we feel there are significant opportunities. HEC was set up to provide a trusted avenue for Asian capital to access real estate opportunities in global gateways.
“Our investment strategy is targeting London, where pricing has rebased quickly, eventually expanding to other cities gateway cities that are slightly lagging behind the London market. The skills within HEC’s leadership team give us a 360 degree understanding of property, a situation that allows us to locate and extract value for our institutional and family office investors.”
Aman Panesar, Central London investment at BNP Paribas Real Estate, which acted for HE Capital on the deal, added: “The appetite for well-located West End investment opportunities rolls on and this deal is another marker that the sentiment towards London offices has improved as buyer and seller expectations are matching up more frequently.
“The recent decision by the Bank of England to cut interest rates for the first time since March 2020 should hopefully provide more certainty to the market and we’ll see continued deal flow across the London office market as a result.
“It has been great to support HE Capital on its London debut, which follows the team’s recent transactions of London’s 24 Savile Row and 22 Soho Square. We are fielding a number of enquiries from other clients looking to explore opportunities across the West End and City and we expect increased activity levels towards the end of the year.”
JLL acted for Lai Wing-To. DLA Piper acted as legal advisor for HE Capital.
