British Land has sold half its stake in the Euston office building that was formerly home to Facebook owner Meta, to Royal London Asset Management.
It sold the 50 per cent stake in 1 Triton Square, Regents Place, to Royal London for £192.5million and the pair will now operate the building as a joint venture.
Last year, Meta paid British Land a £149million surrender premium in order to walk away from its lease on the building.
The deal will see British Land sell 50% of its stake in 1 Triton Square, Regents Place, to Royal London for £192.5million
British Land said the deal delivered on its strategic priority to ‘actively recycle capital, with proceeds being reinvested into future developments’.
It has said that it wants to make 1 Triton Square an office hub for the science and innovation industries.
Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, said: ‘We proactively took 1 Triton Square back from Meta to reposition it for science and innovation customers, with the expectation of unlocking significantly higher rents, whilst benefitting from a considerable surrender premium to further improve the economics.
‘This transaction is another example of how we drive value through establishing innovative JV partnerships, enabling us to flex our balance sheet, share the risk and crystallise the value created from Meta’s surrender premium.’
Mark Evans, head of property and commercial development at Royal London Asset Management Property, added: ‘The partnership opportunity aligns with our wider strategy to leverage our platforms in new markets and continue to deliver on our commitment to purposeful investment.’
In November, British Land reported a £61million loss in the six months to September, against £32million in the equivalent period last year, as high interest rates hit property values.
It blamed rising yields across its West End and City of London ‘campuses’ portfolio, and elevated economic and political uncertainty for a 2.5 per cent decline in its portfolio value to £8.7billion.
This offset a slight uptick in the value of its retail park portfolio, which has benefited since the pandemic from soaring occupancy rates as retailers have increasingly prioritised out-of-town and suburban locations.
Last week it was revealed that Marston’s chair William Rucker will be joining British Land after five years with the pub group.
Rucker will replace Tim Score as chair designate at British Land, after the property firm’s annual general meeting on 9 July.
British Land shares were up 2.74 per cent to 378.30p in Monday morning trading.
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