London headquarters of UBS acquired in £1bn deal

The London headquarters of UBS have been sold to a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of property developer CK Asset Holdings Limited in a £1bn deal.

British Land and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC announced that they completed the sale 5 Broadgate, which covers more than 700,000 sq ft. net internal area with capacity for 5,000 people across its 12 floors.

Designed by architectural practice Make, 5 Broadgate is rated Excellent by BREEAM and carbon emissions are 65% lower than the previous two buildings on the site.

British Land and its then joint venture partner delivered the redevelopment of 5 Broadgate in 2012 to house UBS’s global investment banking business. UBS is committed to the building until 2035.

The building, which was completed in 2015, generated a total property return of 18% per annum for British Land.

Tim Roberts, head of offices at British Land, said: “This transaction is the latest example of how our strategy is creating value. We delivered a modern, truly distinctive building for UBS, located at the heart of our largest central London campus, adjacent to the forthcoming Crossrail station.

“We have now taken the opportunity to realise value and reallocate capital across a range of projects, and uses, to deliver the best value for our shareholders.

“We remain committed to Broadgate and are making excellent progress on our vision to develop and enhance the campus to create a truly world-class, mixed use central London destination.”

Gerald Ma, member of executive committee of CK Asset Holdings, added: “5 Broadgate is a great quality asset with a high quality tenant, and we are delighted with this investment.

“We are also very pleased to become a partner of British Land and GIC and share their long term vision for the entire Broadgate campus.”

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