M7 Real Estate is looking at a potential initial public offering of Bridgewater Place, the 234,000 sq ft of grade A office scheme in central Leeds, on the IPSX stock exchange.
M7 Real Estate, the pan-European investor and asset manager, has agreed to an £84.5 million acquisition of Bridgewater Place with completion of the acquisition subject to a successful capital raise via the listing on IPSX. Shares in Bridgewater Place will be offered early in 2021.
Bridgewater Place is the tallest building in Yorkshire and is 92.6% let and produces an annual headline rent of £5.9 million. Occupiers include EY and multinational law firms DWF and Eversheds. M7 reports that 100% of office rents and 99% of all rents have been collected since the 2020 March quarter day. In addition to the office accommodation the property includes seven ground floor retail units. A single office suite on the 9th floor of around 18,000 sq ft is currently available. Bridgewater Place also includes approximately 200 residential units, which are separately owned and do not form part of the transaction.
Richard Croft, Executive Chairman of M7 Real Estate, said: “Bridgewater Place is a flagship regional office which is characterised by a strong rental income from a number of multinational blue chip tenants and high collection rates throughout the pandemic, as well as the potential to grow income through asset management. Leeds, as with many of the UK’s regional cities, continues to experience a severely constrained supply of quality office space and growing demand. Like the Mailbox in Birmingham, we believe Bridgewater Place offers a compelling investment opportunity to investors and we are currently preparing for a potential listing of this prime office property the on the IPSX stock exchange.”