NatWest is the latest major corporation to buy one of its key offices, after it completed on 2 St Philips Place in the centre of Birmingham, CoStar News can reveal.
The high street banking giant is understood to have agreed to pay close to the guide price, thought to be just under £20 million, in an off-market transaction. The vendor is the West Midlands Pension Fund.
NatWest has around 15 months remaining on its lease at the 63,430-square-foot office, where it trades as a high street bank on the ground floor. The building was developed in 2002 for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The transaction is one of the largest regional office acquisitions this year and follows a clear trend for major corporates to take advantage of a slower investment market to buy their offices.
The largest regional office deal of the year is Bank of New York Mellon's acquisition of 4 Angel Square in Manchester for £114 million for its own occupation. The third-largest regional deal was also owner-occupier: Lloyds Banking Group bought its offices at 10 Canons Way in Bristol, paying more than £65 million.
CBRE Global Investors advised the West Midlands Pension Fund; Cushman & Wakefield advised NatWest.