http://www.propertyweek.com/news/schroders-confirms-%C2%A3188m-city-office-buy/5078792.article

21 January 2016 | By Guy Montague-Jones

The prime City office, which is home to Aon Insurance and Amalgamated Metal Corporation among others, was put up for sale a year ago by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The Chinese company Minsheng Investment walked away from a deal to buy the building for a reported £180m last summer.

Schroders has bought it on behalf of a joint venture between Immobilien Europa Direkt, a Swiss pan-European fund managed by Schroders and another partner.

The office is a prime freehold building on a 0.77 acre island comprising 198,000 sq ft of offices and retail, including a Pret a Manager and Itsu.

Duncan Owen, global head of real estate at Schroders, said the building offered scope to add value through refurbishment.

“55 Bishopsgate is a high quality, multi-let building in a core City of London location that offers scope for value enhancing asset management,” he said. “The strategy is to undertake a refurbishment in order to take advantage of a strong occupier market.

“The property also situated within the City of London ‘Tower Cluster’ and as such offers the medium term opportunity for redevelopment and to significantly increase massing.”

Schroders was advised on the purchase by Strutt & Parker and King Wood Mallesons. The Capital London Fund was advised by TH Real Estate, CBRE and Norton Rose Fulbright.