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Strategic Value Partners, an opportunistic credit investor, is in talks to buy a Mayfair office block at a steep discount to a previous valuation as opportunistic investors continue to buy big London office buildings.
SVP is buying 7 Old Park Lane from Italian investor Gruppo Romeo for less than £100M, Bloomberg reported. It was put up for sale for £150M in 2023.
The deal comes the same week Hayfin, another credit investor, completed a deal to buy the Can of Ham office building in the City for £340M, one of the largest London office deals of the past few years.
SVP seeks to invest in companies and assets where it can get a discount. The Connecticut-based firm has investments in everything from California power companies to Nordic paper manufacturers.
In real estate, it bought the Blanchardstown mall in Dublin for €550M in February. And in March, it bought Senator, a 112K SF office building at 85 Queen Victoria Street in the City, for £60M. In 2021, it was put up for sale by previous owner L&G for £157M.
The vacant 55K SF 7 Old Park Lane was sold by Gruppo Romeo, which purchased it for £83M in 2015 and spent £25M refurbishing it. It was put up for sale for £100M in June, CoStar reported.
Credit funds like SVP and Hayfin are betting that rents will increase for good-quality, well-located offices in the next few years because of the lack of supply of new space coming through.
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