Reading, Oxford, Bracknell: TPG acquires Arlington business parks

TPG Real Estate has completed the acquisition of Arlington Properties and its portfolio of UK-wide business parks from Goodman Group and Legal & General for circa £450 million.

Arlington comprises a portfolio of office properties, located predominantly in Greater London and the South East, a number of pre-committed developments under construction, and one of the largest consented commercial landbanks in the UK.

The portfolio includes 250 acres of consented land and 57 buildings, totalling circa 1.4m sq ft, with 80 tenants, including the headquarters of prominent corporates such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen, Centrica, Mondelēz, Harley Davidson, and Emirates Airlines.

Previously held in a Partnership structure formed in 2003, the business will be restructured and managed as a new standalone property company, owned by TPG Real Estate and headed by managing director James Raven. As part of the transaction, a team of Goodman employees have transferred to the new company to manage the portfolio.

TPG Real Estate said it intends to invest in the company by making selective acquisitions to build out the business, capitalising on development opportunities within the landbank, and taking advantage of asset management opportunities within the existing portfolio.

“We are delighted to acquire Arlington Properties, which represents one of the highest-quality real-estate portfolios in the country, and a compelling ‘value-add’ investment opportunity through the application of rigorous asset management and development,” said Krysto Nikolic, partner at TPG Real Estate.

Among the assets acquired are:

• 2 and 3 Arlington Square, Bracknell which comprises 155,000 sq ft over two buildings principally let to Regus at circa £20 per sq ft. The campus includes two acres of development land.

• 340,000 sq ft spread across 23 buildings at Oxford Business Park. Average rents are around £20 per sq ft with the most recent prelet at a new 40,000 sq ft building to AC Neilsen at £25 per sq ft.

• Uxbridge Business Park comprising five buildings including two new speculative developments. Tenants at the park paying rents at between £28 and £30 per sq ft include Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Quoting rents on the new space are around £35 per sq ft.

• 50 acres of development land at sites in Reading, and Solent Business Park.

Strutt & Parker and Cushman & Wakefield advised on the sale.

Source: CoStar