Samsung SRA Asset Management (‘Samsung SRA’) through Cushman & Wakefield Investors (‘CWI’) has acquired 30 Crown Place, London EC2, on behalf of South Korean institutional investors from a fund managed by Hannover Leasing GmbH & Co. KG.
The prime office building, which offers 192,070 sq feet of “Grade A” office space, is primarily let on a long-term lease to major UK law firm Pinsent Masons LLP. The property is in an excellent City location, close to the Broadgate Estate and Liverpool Street station; a location expected to benefit from the Crossrail connections in the near future as well as ongoing developments in Broadgate.
This represents Samsung SRA’s first overseas investment and reflects the attraction of the London market to international investors as a leading financial centre and gateway city.
Samsung SRA and CWI were advised by Cushman & Wakefield and Ashurst LLP. Hannover Leasing GmbH was advised by Avison Young, Jones Lang LaSalle and Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.
David Rendall, European CEO of CWI, commented: “We are extremely pleased to have secured such an attractive opportunity in an off-market transaction. The property offers secure income and excellent prospects from a further strengthening of the location in the medium term.”
Laurent Rucker, Head of International Real Estate of Hannover Leasing, commented: “We are very excited with having found Samsung SRA as a strategic partner. We look forward to working in partnership with CWI to provide the asset management for this trophy building over the next five years.”
CWI is the independent investment management arm of Cushman & Wakefield and operates through local teams based in London, Paris and Frankfurt. It currently has over €1 billion of assets under management. CWI provides complete investment management services for real estate investments to a range of institutional clients including Corporate, Government and Local Authority Pension Funds, Charities and Family Offices.
Samsung SRA is a real estate fund manager focused on core and core-plus commercial real estate in Korea and overseas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Life Insurance, which co-invests in SRA’s funds.
