Great Portland Estates PLC on Monday announced its acquisition of Whittington House in London, and its agreement of a new £150 million revolving credit facility.
The London-based commercial property company said it acquired the special-purpose company holding the long leasehold interest of Whittington House for £58.5 million. The building is currently let on a short-term basis for an annual rent of around £5.2 million, with the current tenants set to vacate in the first quarter of 2025.
Whittington House sits next to Great Portland Estates’ existing holdings at Alfred Place in London, and opposite the company’s recently acquired building, The Courtyard.
Senior Investment Manager Alexa Baden-Powell said: ‘Whittington House is our first [headquarters] acquisition following our rights issue in May and meets all of our acquisition criteria. At a significant discount to replacement cost, the building has angles to exploit and our refurbishment will delivery high quality, sustainable space into a market that is increasingly starved or such supply.
‘Together with the purchase of 19/23 Wells Street, we have invested £77.5 million into new West End acquisitions in the last month, or £110 million including the capex we intend to invest in both buildings, and our pipeline of further opportunities remains strong.’
Great Portland Estates also on Monday said it has signed a new environmental, social & governance-linked revolving credit facility valued at £150 million. The facility has an initial three-year term, which can potentially be extended to a maximum of five years, and extends the company’s weighted average debt maturity to more than seven years.
Three banks were involved in the facility, including Lloyds Bank PLC, Bank of China and the UK branch of CaixaBank SA.
Shares in Great Portland Estates were up 0.7% at 314.15 pence each in London on Monday morning.
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