Landlord of Broadgate Estate in talks with Singapore over stake
THE BROADGATE Estate, home to thousands of City workers, is in line for a new landlord after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC emerged as frontrunner to buy a stake in the campus.
The 15 building estate, home to Swiss bank UBS, is being sold by US private equity giant Blackstone, which co-owns the estate through a 50 per cent stake. The other half is owned by UK listed British Land.
GIC is thought to be in early stage talks with Blackstone over acquiring the stake for a mooted £1.7bn, delivering Blackstone eight times its initial equity investment.
Blackstone entered into a joint venture with British Land to run Broadgate in November 2009.
The sale, first reported by business magazine Property Week yesterday, would result in GIC entering into a new joint vehicle with British Land.
Shares in British Land closed down 1.14 per cent and Blackstone closed down 0.74 per cent.
Blackstone, British Land and GIC all declined to comment.