London West End acquisition for UK Property Fund

Standard Life Investments, one of the largest property investors in Europe, has announced its acquisition of 33 Charlotte Street, London, W1, on behalf of Standard Life Investments' UK Property Fund, for a net figure of £19.10m.

Acquired from Capital & City PLC, the property comprises well specified offices over five floors, three restaurant units and some residential accommodation. It was purchased off a yield of 5.6%.

Standard Life Investments' £230m UK Property Fund is structured as an authorised property unit trust and invests directly in UK Commercial Property. It was launched in October 2005 for internal asset allocation purposes, otherwise being available to investors via Standard Life's off-shore bond and Irish unit-linked pension products. In August 2009, the Fund was opened to retail investors who are now able to access the Fund via Standard Life's and other major UK platforms.

Nigel Chapman, manager of the UK Property Fund, Standard Life Investments, said: "This acquisition provides the Fund with a prime, well specified West End building, multi-let to six tenants with an average unexpired lease term of 7.5 years. We anticipate strong rental and capital growth in this sector, and believe that the specific timing of lease events within the building should deliver strong performance to the Fund. Furthermore, it increases our West End exposure to c.12% in line with the Fund's strategic positioning.

"This is the second purchase we've announced during the last month on behalf of the UK Property Fund, enabling us to reduce our cash position to c. 8.25%. We are currently in active discussions on a number of other opportunities and expect to reduce this position further in the near term."

Jones Lang LaSalle represented the Fund on this acquisition. Knight Frank represented the vendor.