Royal London Launches £1B REIT: 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.
Royal London Asset Management Property has launched a £1B dedicated private healthcare REIT.
With more than £350M already deployed since 2022 and a further £1B allocated for future investment, Royal London Asset Management Property said it is focused on delivering high-quality, sustainable care homes in high-demand locations.
The launch follows Royal London Asset Management's integration of Shoreline Partners earlier this year. RLAM had an exclusive joint venture with Shoreline that started in 2022, but this summer it brought the division in-house.
“Applying for REIT status is a natural next step in our journey. It allows us to scale our healthcare strategy more effectively, attract aligned capital, and offer a structure that is both tax-efficient and internationally recognised,” Royal London Asset Management Property Head of Property Mark Evans said in a statement.
FINANCE
Redevco has launched the closed-ended Redevco European Retail Parks Fund, focused on acquiring and managing convenience-led retail parks across Europe and the UK.
The strategy has been backed by a €500M (£435M) commitment from CBRE Investment Management’s Indirect Real Estate Strategies, acting on behalf of global institutional investors, as well as co-investment by Redevco.
The core-plus real estate investment vehicle aims to build a portfolio of dominant, urban retail parks anchored by essential retailers such as grocery, DIY and discount operators, Redevco said.
Redevco CEO Neil Slater said that the launch reflected both the depth of opportunity in the sector and the strength of Redevco’s platform.
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RoundShield, the European private credit and opportunities arm of Harrison Street Asset Management, has formed an up to £200M equity partnership with an affiliate of the CEG Group to acquire, refurbish and reposition office-led assets in London and major UK regional cities.
Affiliates of CEG will invest alongside RoundShield, and the partnership will target city centre office assets for full refurbishment to deliver Grade A quality and A energy performance certification.
The partnership reflects RoundShield’s continued focus on identifying compelling investment opportunities in European real estate markets, where local execution capabilities are key to generating attractive returns, the company said.
LENDING
PGIM Real Estate has lent a further £40M to Valor Real Estate and QuadReal Property Group's logistics joint venture, taking its loan position in a portfolio of five UK assets to £119M.
The floating-rate loan — completed on behalf of PGIM’s senior debt platform and its sixth debt transaction with Valor — will support the JV’s acquisition of four last-mile assets in London and Birmingham, adding to the £79M PGIM provided in January 2025 for the acquisition of a 630K SF Tesco distribution centre in Essex.
The four assets covered by the additional loan total 255K SF, comprising three small-box warehouses in Poplar, Enfield and Staines and a light industrial estate in Birmingham, which includes 10 units.
The Tesco distribution centre in Thurrock, Essex, was acquired by Valor and QuadReal for £130M in January.
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Real estate lender Leumi UK has provided a £37M loan to Kier Property for the acquisition and development of two multilet light industrial assets in St Albans and Bognor Regis.
The deal marks the second transaction between the two firms and represents Leumi UK’s first speculative development financing in the light industrial sector, where work has commenced prior to a tenant being secured.
In St Albans, Kier Property will deliver a 10-unit scheme totalling 56K SF under its Trade City brand, which will be built to EPC A and BREEAM Excellent ratings, with completion targeted for May.
In Bognor Regis, the consented scheme will provide 11 industrial units under its Trade City and Logistics City brands, with the overall development totalling 205K SF. Completion is targeted for November 2026.
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ESR Europe has completed the refinancing of its Urban Logistics Income Fund with a £103M facility from NatWest. The portfolio comprises 15 urban logistics assets in urban locations across the UK.
The majority of assets are in and around Greater London, with further holdings in the city fringes of Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield.
“This refinancing marks an important milestone for the fund, exceeding our original underwriting assumptions. Urban logistics remains one of our highest-conviction investment themes in Europe,” ESR Europe Managing Director Fund Management Henry Giles said in a statement.
DEALS
The Crown Estate has acquired the headlease of 100 Regent Street from a vehicle managed by Federated Hermes Real Estate for £95M. The vehicle is jointly owned by a client of Federated Hermes Real Estate and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The Grade II-listed building comprises more than 53K SF of prime retail and office space, and The Crown Estate already owns the freehold as part of The Regent Street Partnership, its joint venture with Norges Bank Investment Management.
The acquisition enables the partnership to take direct control of the entire building, and plans will include enhancing the office accommodation and improving the retail offer and the building’s environmental performance.
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M&G Real Estate has added more than 1,000 new beds to its student accommodation portfolio in three purpose-built student accommodation properties in Manchester, Nottingham and Lisbon.
In Manchester, BauMont Real Estate Capital, M&G's value-add real estate division, has acquired the 416-bed Ropemaker Court for £42M in partnership with Spinnaker Estates. The investment was made through BauMont’s second value-add fund, which closed last year with more than €450M in capital commitments.
In Nottingham, M&G completed Fabric, a £48M development with 323 beds. In Lisbon, M&G has completed The Mile, a €35M PBSA development acquired in 2023 on behalf of M&G European Living Fund.
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Flexible office provider Workspace has completed the sale of Morie Street in Wandsworth and exchanged on the sale of Castle Lane in Victoria for a combined total of £22.4M. The aggregate sale price is 3% below the March valuation at a net initial yield of 4.3%.
Morie Street comprises 22K SF of office and studio space, while Castle Lane is a 14K SF office building. Because of their size, both assets were identified as low-conviction buildings for Workspace following a portfolio review, the company said.
“We are making good progress in delivering our strategy to fix, accelerate and scale the business and our new conviction approach to portfolio management is a key part of our plan,” Workspace CEO Laurence Hutchings said in a statement.
PLANNING
Aviva Investors has received planning approval from the City of London Corporation for the redevelopment of 130 Fenchurch Street, which CO-RE has been appointed to develop.
Designed by WilkinsonEyre, the new building will be a 34-storey commercial tower, replacing a vacant and dated scheme.
The approved design includes nearly 58,000 square metres of commercial office accommodation and a public exhibition space. New surrounding public spaces will also be created as part of the scheme, including nearly 4K SF of retail and hospitality facilities and improved pedestrian access between Cullum Street and Fen Court.
The new building will target BREEAM, NABERS and WELL certifications.
DEVELOPMENT
Ralph Lauren is to open a new restaurant as part of its hospitality portfolio, called The Polo Bar Ralph Lauren in London. The restaurant will be at 1 Hanover Square and is set to open in 2028.
London was home to Ralph Lauren’s first international flagship store on New Bond Street, which opened in 1981, and the company operates 12 stores in London, plus Ralph’s Coffee locations in New Bond Street and Brompton Cross.
PEOPLE
Newmark has strengthened its data centre investment, development and powered land offer with the appointment of Hamish Smith and Oliver Weston as partners. The duo will help drive Newmark’s growth in the sectors.
Working with the wider capital markets and debt, equity and structured finance teams across the UK and Europe, the pair will focus on data centre and powered land investment, development, capital raising and refinancing mandates across the UK and Europe, in addition to advising clients on site selection and the development of new facilities.
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Fusion Group has appointed Richard Pilkington as its new group CEO, succeeding Nigel Henry, co-founder and CEO, who becomes chairman of the business.
Pilkington has joined from Modon, the Abu Dhabi-based real estate group, where he served as CEO for its international business, including the establishment of Modon’s presence in the UK, partnering with British Land and GIC in the development of 2 Finsbury Avenue at Broadgate.
Before joining Modon, he was head of European real estate at Cain International and held senior roles at Oxford Properties and MGPA.
