IVG to buy £30m London Cannon Street offices

German fund manager IVG Immobilien AG is to finalise the purchase of newly renovated 20 Cannon Street offices from the Allied London and Aerium consortium.

IVG has formally lodged an offer of £30m for the 40,000 sq ft London block. This translates to a yield of 5.23% for the previous owners, who have now let the entire development and placed it under offer within five months.

Property developers Allied London and fund managers Aerium bought 20 Cannon Street from Japanese firm Kenedix in summer 2010, including a significant debt on the building held by German banking group West Immo.

£20m was earmarked for extensive renovation and modernisation, as the consortium sought to attract tenants back to a property that had been vacant since Herbert Smith lawyers moved out in 2007.

Executive head-hunters Odgers Berndston moved its City headquarters to 20 Cannon Street in May 2012, with a rental arrangement of around £50 per sq ft across 6,300 sq ft for its 350 employees.

IVGs office portfolio has a current market value of €3.3bn with managed assets totalling approximately €21.6bn across 19 sites, making it one of Europe’s largest real estate and infrastructure companies.

Both the yield and speed with which this substantial office space has been let signals a marked increase in the confidence of trans-national corporations in the recovering market value of properties in the capital. Search Office Space is ideally placed to find affordable executive options in London that reflect the prestige afforded to global industry leaders.