SIDRA Capital has announced its largest transaction to date, the acquisition of Kinnaird House on behalf of a Saudi investor. The building, which is located near Trafalgar Square in Central London, was bought for SR460 million of German fund manager GLL Real Estate. The six-story building was redeveloped in 2001 and provides 5,710 square meters of offices and 930 square meters of restaurant space. The office space is let to McKinsey & Co until March 2018 and the restaurant is let to Mint Leaf until September 2037. The asset is held on a long leasehold from The Crown Estate expiring in November 2126. "London has historic, stable residential and commercial property markets and competitive capital appreciation, unrivalled by other European cities," said Currim Oozeer, CEO of Sidra Capital. "Amid all the talks of Brexit, we are bullish about the long term prospect of the UK. We have been regularly managing investments in the UK and we are pleased to have secured this landmark building in a prime location in Central London, which proves that London is still attractive to serious GCC investors." A joint survey by Cluttons and YouGov of 127 high net worth investors from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait revealed that London was the most preferred city of 196 worldwide locations to invest in real estate. Around 11 percent of investors ranked the capital as their top global investment location, followed by New York, with five percent. "This is more than an acquisition, it is a landmark property that will be here 300 years from now and still remain one of the most important commercial locations in the capital. This is a once in a lifetime acquisition and one which will continue to deliver extraordinary results," said Jesdev Saggar, managing director of 3 Associates Capital, the investment and property advisor to the project. Sidra Capital, who is the strategic advisor on the project, focuses on real estate development and income generating real estate opportunities manages an AUM in excess. The firm manages real estate investments in excess of SR1.5 billion and 76 percent of its real estate AUM is invested in the UK real estate market, of which 57 percent are development projects. To date Sidra Capital has invested in 13 United Kingdom properties, and we will see more investments in London in 2016.
