British Land has sold a 50% stake in its 1 Triton Square, in London’s Regent’s Place, to Royal London Asset Management Property for £192.5m.
This is the building that Meta (Facebook) surrendered its lease on last year, paying British Land £142m in order to walk away from its lease agreement.
The combined impact of the surrender premium, JV formation and subsequent fit-out and leasing is expected to deliver a 30%-plus IRR.
The 50% disposal will result initially in a circa 2p increase in NTA per share and due to the pay down of debt and the related interest saving increases FY25 earnings per share by circa 1p. The transaction reduces LTV by 1.4%.
The new joint venture partners will bring forward a science and innovation building, offering a mix of fitted and lab-enabled space as well as the potential to incorporate serviced offices to accommodate flexible requirements.
1 Triton Square is located in the heart of the Regent’s Place campus within London’s Knowledge Quarter, which is home to leading research institutions including The Francis Crick Institute, The Wellcome Trust, The Alan Turing Institute and University College London.
British Land said that the proceeds will be reinvested into future developments.
Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, said: “We are delighted to be working with Royal London Asset Management to deliver a world class science and innovation building at Regent’s Place.
“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.”