Tritax, one of the largest independent property specialists, has sold the 8 buildings that comprise the balance of the original Birmingham Brindleyplace Fund to Moorfield and Hines for £190 million. The deal represents a 7.2% pa compound return to the fund income unitholders and a 7.8% pa compound to those holding capital units.
Brindleyplace was almost certainly the largest private equity specific property fundraising in 2003 and acquired 11 buildings in Birmingham equivalent of Canary Wharf, with major tenants including Royal Bank of Scotland, BT, Arthur Andersen, and the Royal Mail.
Unusually Brindleyplace was a private and institutional investor partnership. Private investors acquired 49.99% of the fund with the balance owned by Royal Mail Pension Fund, British Telecom Pension Scheme, and Argent.
At over 7% the fund has delivered a return significantly better than the market averages for a similar period:
- IPD annual returns for offices was 4.25% pa
- Aviva Investors Pension Property Fund 3% pa
- IPD return for equities 6.4% pa
Anthony Wyld, head of marketing at Tritax comments; “Commercial property has been severely hit by the events of the last couple of years. However, Brindleyplace highlights that cherry picking properties in the same way that equity managers select stocks can reap the rewards that investors require. This strategy has served us well and continues to form the basis for our recent fund launches including our commercial property oil exploration fund in Aberdeen.”
