British Land sells 50% stake in former Meta HQ to Royal London

18th Mar 2024 07:12

(Sharecast News) - British Land said on Monday that it has sold half its stake in London office 1 Triton Square - the former HQ of Facebook owner Meta - to Royal London Asset Management.

A new 50:50 joint venture will be formed "to accelerate the delivery of 1 Triton Square into a best in class science and innovation building at Regent's Place," British Land said. The agreement values the property at £385m.

1 Triton Square is located in the heart of the Regent's Place campus within London's Knowledge Quarter, which is home to leading research institutions including The Francis Crick Institute, The Wellcome Trust, The Alan Turing Institute and University College London.

British Land said the transaction delivers against one of its key strategic priorities "to actively recycle capital, with proceeds being reinvested into future developments".

"The establishment of this JV partnership accelerates and enhances returns," it added.

Chief executive Simon Carter said: "We are delighted to be working with Royal London Asset Management to deliver a world class science and innovation building at Regent's Place.

"We proactively took 1 Triton Square back from Meta to reposition it for science and innovation customers, with the expectation of unlocking significantly higher rents, whilst benefitting from a considerable surrender premium to further improve the economics.

"This transaction is another example of how we drive value through establishing innovative JV partnerships, enabling us to flex our balance sheet, share the risk and crystallise the value created from Meta's surrender premium."

British Land will receive gross proceeds of £192.5m from the sale to Royal London, in addition to the £149m surrender premium already received from Meta, which exited its contract in September 2023.