DTZ today announced the acquisition on behalf of AEP Investment Management of Trident Place, a business park property located within Hatfield Business Park, from global integrated property group Goodman at a price in excess of £130 million.
DTZ advised AEP Investment Management (AEPim), a Singapore-based fund management firm, on the transaction of Trident Place, a landmark development comprising six self-contained, Grade A office blocks totalling 472,000 sq ft of lettable space. The development forms an integral part of the larger Hatfield Business Park in Hertfordshire. Strutt and Parker acted for Goodman.
Commenting on the investment transaction, John Mundy FRICS, Senior Principal, of AEPim in the UK, said the firm has been on the hunt for quality income-based investments. “Trident Place represents an investment with good real estate fundamentals and backed by strong covenants. We like the quality of the real estate and lease covenants, and the property fits into our larger objective of building a portfolio of income generating real estate assets in the UK and potentially across Continental Europe.”
Jason Winfield, Head of UK investment at DTZ, said: “International buyers continue to be highly diverse with investors from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia targeting the UK market. Of these investors, Asian investors are the most active currently with new buyers from China and Taiwan, alongside the now established purchasers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Japan. DTZ continues to track around £25bn of international capital seeking to invest in the UK market.
“In addition to the rising office occupational markets in the UK, the competition for the most attractive available investment opportunities between these investors, and resurgent domestic investors, is a major factor behind the expected yield compression across all sectors.”
Goodman secured planning consent in 2000 for Hatfield Business Park and since that time it has evolved into a thriving mixed-use development. Jim Johnston, Managing Director for UK Business Parks at Goodman, said: “The park is home to a number of diverse and leading businesses, over 2,000 new homes and the UK’s leading business-facing University. With room for an additional 600,000 sq ft, Goodman remains committed to Hatfield Business Park and through this transaction Goodman will continue to focus on its remaining core assets and future development opportunities.”
The property hosts the headquarters of Everything Everywhere (“EE”), the largest mobile operator in the UK, with more than 28 million customers. EE is a 50:50 venture between France’s Orange S.A. and Germany’s T-Mobile of Deutsche Telekom. Trident Place is also home to a number of leading businesses including Tesco, Pitney Bowes and Cardtronics. Other major business park occupiers include DHL, Ocado ,Eisai and the University of Hertfordshire.
The acquisition of Trident Place, is not the first UK investment by AEPim. Two years ago, AEPim through its Securus Data Property Fund (“Securus Fund”), a joint venture with Singapore’s Keppel Data Centre Investment Management, acquired GV7, a data centre (“DC”) property, located at Greenwich View Place in Cannery Wharf. The Securus Fund is a DC specialist fund and over the last 18 months invested in two other DC assets in Europe – one in Dublin and another in Amsterdam, and the Fund is now fully invested.
AEPim is led by its CEO and Managing Partner, Yusof Wahid, who is a Chartered Surveyor and is based in Singapore. AEP Capital Ltd is a unit of the Al Rajhi family office based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and provides the sponsorship capital for AEPim in the development and execution of its investment mandates across key global markets.
