BC Partners Real Estate Announces First Deal
London, 13 November 2019: BC Partners Real Estate today announces the acquisition of Wingate House, a mixed-use building in London’s Soho area. This marks the Fund’s first investment since launching its Real Estate strategy in 2018.
Acquired from Conegate Limited, the 70,000 square foot Soho property fronts Shaftsbury Avenue and comprises seven floors of office space, and three floors of retail/leisure space including the Curzon Soho cinema. Working with operating partner Seaforth Land, BC Partners will undertake a comprehensive refurbishment of the building to improve the quality of both the office and retail space.
Charles Tutt, Principal at BC Partners Real Estate commented, “Soho is known as one of London’s most dynamic, creative communities and Wingate House forms an essential part of the architectural heritage and cultural fabric of the area. This is a unique opportunity to demonstrate our vision of crafting modern, creative, spaces in London’s most vibrant neighbourhoods.”
Tyler Goodwin, CEO at Seaforth Land, said: “We have been monitoring Wingate House and are pleased to now be working alongside BC Partners on the project. Wingate House’s history in Soho, potential for redevelopment and appeal to occupational tenants means it is exactly the kind of building that Seaforth Land seeks to redevelop.”
Beyond its location, this investment sits within BCP Real Estate’s area of expertise. The team specialises in applying their understanding of long-term, societal trends that are creating structural imbalances in the real estate sector to identify assets that are poised for repositioning.
Stéphane Theuriau, Partner and Head of BC Partners Real Estate added “Office space in prime Central London locations continues to be highly sought after – but supply remains restricted. We are excited to have made our first investment in London and to put our strategy into action to develop design led, customer-centric workspaces in defensive central locations.”
BC Partners Real Estate was launched in May 2018 to identify pan-European investment opportunities across real estate sectors, and to complement BC Partners’ existing private equity and private credit business.
Savills represented the vendor.
Pilcher Hershman represented BC Partners and Seaforth Land.
About BC Partners BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €23 billion of assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for three decades.
In 2018 the firm launched a fully integrated real estate investment platform focusing on pan-European opportunities.
For more information, please visit https://www.bcpartners.com/real-estate-strategy
About Seaforth Land Seaforth Land is a real estate operating partner working exclusively with institutional investors seeking single market expertise and superior net-to-investor returns. Focused on London, the company’s in-house capabilities cover the entire asset lifecycle, from acquisitions, asset management, financial and fiduciary management to planning, design, development and dispositions.