BSI and Britannic strike 41.3 million property deal

A £41.3million property deal has been struck by the British Standards Institution for the sale and leaseback of its global headquarters building at 389 Chiswick High Road, West London, England.

The deal is with Britannic Asset Management on behalf of Britannic Assurance plc.

British Standards House provides 14,000 sq.m. (150,000 sq. ft.) together with around 380 car parking spaces.

Britannic Assurance has paid £41.3m for the special purpose company that owns the property to reflect a net initial yield of 7.56 percent.

BSI has entered into a 15-year leaseback on the ground to eleventh floors which provide 9,290 sq.m (100,000 sq. ft.) at a rental equating to £22.50 per sq. ft. on the main office floors.

BSI has also entered into three-year leasebacks on floors 13-17 at the same rental rate.

Floor 12, which is 725 sq. m. (8,300 sq. ft.), has already been re-let to Quadriga on a five-year lease at a rental of £28 per sq. ft.

Negotiations for sub-letting Floor 13 have reached an advanced stage.

Stanley Williams, legal director of BSI, said: "This is an important development for BSI, and we are delighted to have Britannic Asset Management as our landlord."

Robin Binnie, investment manager of Britannic Asset Management, said: "This is an excellent investment for Britannic, which will complement our growing property portfolio."

BSI was advised by Cyril Leonard and Co, and McGuinness Finch. The advisers to Britannic Asset Management were FPD Savills and CMS Cameron McKenna.

Notes to editors

(1) BSI is known worldwide for its Kitemark of product excellence and as a global leader in setting quality, safety and service standards for industry and commerce.

(2) Britannic Assurance is part of the Britannic plc group of financial service companies.

(3) Built above railway lines by British Rail in the 1960s as a speculative property development, the building's original tenant was IBM, which occupied the building from the mid 1960s to 1991. BSI was granted a 999-year lease from British Rail in 1993, and refurbished the building during 1993 and 1994. BSI moved in during September 1994, and the building was officially opened as British Standards House by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in April 1995.

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Wilma Tulloch on +44 (0)20 8996 6330 OR
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