Following a recent investment agency pitch, asset and property management company FI Real Estate Management (FIREM) has announced its appointment of BNP Paribas Real Estate to market the investment of three buildings, totalling 246,000 sq ft, occupied by Microsoft on the Thames Valley Park in Reading.
BNP Paribas Real Estate will now put together a marketing campaign to engage with UK and international investors which will augment the keen market interest already received over the past year since FIREM were appointed asset and property managers on the Mapeley BETA portfolio by special servicer Solutus Advisors.
Commenting on the appointment, FIREM’s Asset Manager on the Reading properties, James Raspin, said that the choice had been a difficult one: “This is the most sought after asset in the BETA portfolio as it provides long term income from a world leading brand at one of the premier business parks in the UK. It is also a great opportunity to acquire what the press has recently styled as ‘the South East’s top asset outside London’. All the major agents involved recognised that significance and the pitch was hotly contested.
“However, we know that BNP Paribas Real Estate with its global network of offices and spread of investor contacts, together with its strategy for the disposal of this key asset, is the best choice for this particular property, and we look forward to working with them towards its eventual sale which is likely to be early in 2014.”
Hugh White, Head of National Investment at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “We are delighted to have been instructed to market this prestigious office instruction. Global interest in UK real estate has continued to increase during the course of this year and as the weight of both UK and overseas money pushes Central London yields down attention has now focused on well let, well specified assets in the wider South East. The combination of this tenant which is the third biggest global brand, the attractive unexpired lease term and the established nature of this location means that the property will provide a compelling proposition to investors seeking income producing real estate assets.”
