LondonMetric Property Completes £139M Of Deals: The London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
LondonMetric Property has kicked off its financial year with £139M of investment activity as the REIT continues to recycle capital into long-income retail assets while pushing ahead with its proposed acquisition of Picton Property Income.
Ahead of its annual general meeting, LondonMetric said it had completed £139M of transactions since 1 April, including £97M of disposals and £43M of acquisitions. A further £23M of sales are under offer, while another £48M of acquisitions are in solicitors' hands, the company said.
Among the latest sales were nine Travelodge hotels for £37M, reducing LondonMetric's holding to 44 hotels, alongside a vacant warehouse in Braintree, a short-let logistics asset in Acton and former Highcroft retail assets in Oxford. On acquisitions, it has added four previously announced forward-funded food store developments and a McDonald's drive-thru at Birmingham Fort Retail Park.
Separately, LondonMetric said due diligence is progressing on the consortium's proposed takeover of Picton Property Income following the announcement of a possible offer in June.
It also added that it is set to widen its investment scope beyond its core focus of logistics and is looking at the convenience retail sector in particular.
DEALS
Blue Owl Capital has completed a deal to acquire a portfolio of 12 Spire private hospitals from Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund for around £1.3B. The properties are currently managed by Moor Park Capital Partners, which will continue as asset manager.
EPF appointed Knight Frank to sell the portfolio last year, and the investment has been made through Blue Owl’s European Net Lease Fund.
FUNDING
Living sector specialist investment manager Long Harbour has secured a £100M equity commitment from the National Housing Bank for its Long Harbour Single Family Housing Fund.
The latest investment brings the total committed to the platform to £400M. Long Harbour secured a £300M seed equity commitment from South Korea’s National Pension Fund in December 2024, with the National Housing Bank now committing £100M on a matched funding basis.
LHSFF provides new-build family homes to rent across the UK, with a focus on the south and south east of England, and has committed circa £200M to deliver almost 500 homes, with a further £500M of identified opportunities, the company said.
LEASING
New York-based hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw & Co. is set to lease 30K SF of space across the top four floors of Grosvenor’s building at 56 Davies Street for its new European headquarters.
The move comes because of the planned refurbishment of the hedge fund’s current office at 55 Baker Street by London & Regional.
The South Molton project is a joint Mitsui Fudosan UK and Grosvenor Group Holdings development of circa 150K SF on a triangular site over two office buildings at 56 Davies Street and 60 Brook Street, due for completion in the summer of 2027.
PEOPLE
Neil Slater will step down as chief executive officer of Redevco to take up the role of CEO at Link Real Estate Investment Trust, one of Asia's largest real estate investment trusts. Slater's departure from Redevco will take effect on 31 January 2027.
A search for his successor has commenced, and details will be announced in due course, the company said in a statement.
He joined Redevco in October 2023, and during his tenure, the company has launched its European Retail Parks Fund and real estate debt strategies.
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Apo Group has appointed Justine Edmonds as its new managing director. She has joined from property services group LRG, where as director she was in charge of the group's living markets strategy across single-family housing and multifamily portfolios.
Edmonds will begin her new role on 10 August. Apo, which was acquired by Broadsword Investment Management in 2024, operates more than 2,000 rental units across five build-to-rent assets in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester.
