Legal & General, on behalf of its BMW (UK) Trustees fund (‘the Fund’), announces that it has completed the sale of 36-46 St John’s Road, Clapham Junction, a prime London retail asset, for £25m.
26 May 2020
Sold off market to a pension fund investor and reflecting an initial net yield of 3.99%, the property comprises a multi-let retail parade with Waitrose, the anchor tenant, responsible for 66% of the income.
Fawcett Mead advised Legal & General on the sale of 36-46 St John’s Road.
As part of the asset management strategy, the Fund recently marked the topping out of One Victoria Street in Windsor, a 44,000 sq. ft. wellness-focused Grade A office building featuring an indoor wellness and relaxation garden, roof terrace and entertainment space. Owned in 50:50 partnership with L&G’s flagship UK Property Fund, contractors Bowmer + Kirkland are due to complete construction of the building in November 2020.
Rob Coding: "Against wider uncertainty related to Covid-19, the agreed price represented an exceptional opportunity for the Fund within a generally challenging retail market. The sale demonstrates that, in the current environment, retail cannot be viewed as a single sector, with some elements – like food stores – continuing to generate considerable interest. Following the sale and in line with its asset management strategy, the fund will now aim to reinvest the profits into further diversifying its portfolio in sectors more accretive to future performance.As we look to create future value for the Fund, our investment at One Victoria Street will help boost job creation and stimulate the local economy, whilst providing an ideal base for companies working in the South East of England. This is a truly unique development, with views over Windsor Castle and Great Windsor Park, providing businesses with state-of-the-art facilities which will help drive employee, health, satisfaction and wellbeing."
Jonathan Mills: "We are delighted to have completed successfully on this sale at an attractive exit price for Legal & General, clearly demonstrating the continued attractiveness of the foodstore market in an otherwise very uncertain environment. The fact that the property is majority let to a foodstore operator and pharmacy chain, both deemed as providing essential retail services, was undoubtedly a key driver for the transaction completing successfully. The property was sold off market to a pension fund investor who we had identified as having a specific requirement for an investment that matched the subject property’s characteristics."
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with over £1.2 trillion in total assets under management* of which 39% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.
*as at HY 2023
Legal & General Investment Management
LGIM is one of Europe’s largest asset managers and a major global investor, with total assets under management of £1.16 trillion1 ($1.47tn, €1.35tn, CHF 1.31tn). We work with a wide range of global clients, including pension schemes, sovereign wealth funds, fund distributors and retail investors.
For more than 50 years, we have built our business through understanding what matters most to our clients and transforming this insight into valuable, accessible investment products and solutions. We provide investment expertise across the full spectrum of asset classes including fixed income, equities, commercial property, and cash. Our capabilities range from index-tracking and active strategies to liquidity management and liability-based risk management solutions.
1 Data as at 30 June 2023. Data combines assets under management by LGIM in the UK, LGIMA in the US and LGIM Asia in Hong Kong.
Assets under management include securities and derivatives positions
*as at HY 2023