Aware Super and Delancey have completed the acquisition of Finsbury Circus House, a transaction first revealed by CoStar News, taking the total of its acquisitions of London offices to close to £500 million in six months.
The latest transaction for the strategic partnership between Aware Super and Delancey Real Estate in the DARE platform is a 150,000-square-foot office building near Liverpool Street station. Re-developed in 2013, the asset had been held in the same institutional ownership for more than 30 years.
The duo declined to name the vendor or the price but as revealed by CoStar News in May, it is buying the City home of Savills from Union Investment for around £140 million.
Union bought the building at 12-15 Finsbury Circus from MEPC in 1992 and it sat in the UniImmo: Deutschland open-ended mutual property fund. It carried out a Fletcher Priest-designed makeover of the building with Co-re acting as development manager in 2012. Tenants at the multilet building include global brokerage Savills and Baird Capital.
The DARE joint venture is targeting UK commercial property investments and has now announced the acquisition of three office buildings in central London for a combined value of £500 million.
It said its maiden acquisitions capitalise on the "current dislocation in the capital markets and the favourable supply-demand imbalance of the occupational markets, which is driving unprecedented levels of rental growth for best-in-class offices in London".
The strategic partnership was launched in October 2024, with plans to invest an initial £1 billion of capital into the UK market, targeting counter-cyclical investment opportunities, such as offices.
The first acquisition was 20 Manchester Square in Marylebone, a recently completed development and the new UK headquarters for Lazard which has signed a 15-year lease agreement.
The purchase was followed by the acquisition of 11-12 Hanover Square in Mayfair, a trophy mixed-use building developed in 2017.
Dan Dawe, head of investment at Delancey said in a statement: “These are landmark, prime transactions in a sector where the flight to quality is polarising the market for both occupiers and investors. The ongoing market dislocation creates an attractive buying window, and these acquisitions reflect the recognition that multinational corporates have made as to the important role the office plays for brand, culture, training and collaboration."
Aware Super senior portfolio manager – property UK Mathieu Elshout said: “We look forward to continue revitalising London’s office and commercial heartlands through our strategic positioning in UK real estate.”
Alongside prime central London offices, the Aware Super and Delancey partnership in DARE may explore other "high-quality, undervalued opportunities in the UK recognising the potential for attractive cyclical and risk-adjusted returns", it said.
It added it could buy stabilised assets, fund development projects and assist with recapitalisations of existing capital structures. Single asset, portfolio and corporate acquisitions would all be considered.
Aware Super already owns a 22% stake in Get Living, the UK owner and operator of large-scale build-to-rent neighbourhoods, which was established by Delancey.
Union Investment said the sale of Finsbury Circus House is likely to send a strong positive signal to the market, given it is the first prime office transaction of scale in the City of London for a considerable period of time.
“The office segment is re-awakening from its slumber due to very strong fundamentals in the letting markets and a shortage of suitable product. The sale enables us to achieve our objectives to strategically optimise our portfolio and minimise future capital expenditure risk,” says Adam Irányi, head of investment management global at Union Investment.
The sale puts the fund in a "position to pursue attractive new investment opportunities in London which will continue to be a very important target market,” said Miles Skinner, head of investment management, UK and Ireland.
Following the sale of Finsbury Circus House, Union Investment now holds eight office and hotel properties in London with a value of approximately €1.9 billion. This is in addition to holdings in the UK’s major regional cities as well as properties in Dublin, with the London team responsible for both the UK and Irish markets.
Delancey and Aware Super were advised by Travers Smith and CBRE. Union Investment was advised by DLA Piper and JLL.