British Land sells Ropemaker Place

Property group British Land has sold Ropemaker Place in London to an international consortium of investors for 472m pounds.

The sale represents a net initial yield of 5.0% on the basis of an acquisition of the units in Ropemaker Place Unit Trust.

British Land will receive net proceeds of £461m in cash from the sale after costs, 1.4% above the September 2012 book value.

Tim Roberts, the Head of Offices at British Land said: "Ropemaker demonstrates our track record of delivering exceptional, sustainable buildings which are profitably let to quality occupiers. The sale reflects the attractiveness of our buildings to investors as well as occupiers and allows us to recycle capital to invest in our development programme."

The group added that the sale is in line with its strategy of recycling capital and balancing its portfolio between the West End and the City.

The offices are fully let on an average lease length of 14 years, with key tenants including The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Securities International, Markit, Liberum Capital and Macquarie Group, at a day one contractual rent of £24.05m per annum, rising to £27.5m per annum on minimum uplifts at first reviews.

The proceeds of the sale will be redeployed into the company's existing London development programme.

Separately, the company announced its intention to raise £500m through a placing to fund "attractive investment opportunities".

NR