May 15, 2006
The CPP Investment Board and ING Real Estate Investment Management UK today announced the acquisition of two City of London office buildings – 55 Bishopsgate, EC2 and 1 Bunhill Row, EC1. The properties have been acquired from Deka Immobilien Investment for £355 million by ING Insurance and the CPP Investment Board in a new joint venture called “The Capital (London) Fund”.
The 55 Bishopsgate property is in one of the premier locations in the City of London’s financial district. It is a multi-lease City of London office building, comprising over 190,000 square feet of high quality, modern office space. 1 Bunhill Row is also a City of London office building and comprises over 260,000 square feet. It is leased on a long term basis to Slaughter & May, one of the UK’s most prominent law firms. The Capital (London) Fund has been formed specifically for the ownership of these properties, with the CPP Investment Board having an 80% interest and ING Insurance a 20% interest. Graeme Eadie, Vice-President – Real Estate Investments, CPP Investment Board, said: ”The CPP Investment Board has been expanding its international real estate portfolio, primarily through investments in the UK and Western Europe. This represents our first joint-venture transaction in Europe and we are pleased to be acquiring these high-quality assets in partnership with ING Real Estate. We will continue to seek opportunities to expand our international real estate holdings and to diversify the CPP fund.” Kevin Aitchison, Senior Director – ING Real Estate Investment Management, said: ”The Capital (London) Fund’s investment in high quality, well leased and well located properties is designed to take advantage of the upswing in the City office market. The transaction represents the first joint venture with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and is a relationship we look forward to developing further in the future.” Strutt & Parker advised the joint venture on the acquisition. Deka was advised by Savills and CBRE.
CPP Investment Board
CPP Investment Board is an investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits. Based in Toronto, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. As of December 31, 2005, the CPP Investment Board managed assets of $92.5 billion, including over $4 billion in real estate. For more information about the CPP Investment Board, visit www.cppib.ca.
ING Real Estate is an international real estate company active in investment management, development and finance. With a total business portfolio of EUR 73 billion and offices in 17 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia, ING Real Estate ranks among the world’s strongest real estate companies.
ING Real Estate is part of ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries.
ING Real Estate Investment Management (UK Funds) Limited is authorised and regulated by The Financial Services Authority.
For further information contact:
John Cappelletti, Manager, Communications
CPP Investment Board
416-868-0308
Selina Sasse, ING Real Estate Investment Management
+44 (0) 20 7767 5756