24 December 2013

1. British Land and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership for Broadgate, one of the premier office complexes in London with over 4 million sq ft of office, retail and leisure space. This follows GIC’s agreement to acquire the 50% interest in Broadgate owned by Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI. The new partners share a vision of potential to build on Broadgate’s strong real estate offering and excellent transport connections to enhance its high quality built environment and best in class occupier services.

2. Built around Liverpool Street station, one of London’s key transport interchanges, Broadgate is expected to benefit both from the opening of the new Crossrail station in 2018 and from improvements in the surrounding areas. Major investments in recent years have already significantly revitalised the estate with over 950,000 sq ft of space newly developed or refurbished in the last 4 years. The current development at 5 Broadgate, which is pre-let entirely to UBS, will add a furthe

r 710,000 sq ft office space, and the current £20 million redevelopment of Broadgate Circle will also improve the retail and restaurant offer on the estate.

3. Looking forward, the joint venture’s strategy will focus on broadening Broadgate’s appeal from a traditional City-focused occupier base to cater for the growing creative district centred around Shoreditch to the East and the emerging tech-focused area around Old Street to the North. Plans for the next stage of investment are already underway and include a major refurbishment of 100 Liverpool Street along with a significant expansion of the retail offer around Broadgate South. Delivery of this development is expected to coincide with the opening of Crossrail.

4. British Land will provide asset management for the joint venture. Broadgate Estates, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Land, will also continue to provide day to day property management and occupier services.

5. Chris Grigg, CEO of British Land, said, “GIC is one of the world’s leading institutional investors in real estate and their major investment alongside us in Broadgate supports our belief in the quality and potential of the estate. This partnership provides us with the ideal platform to deliver the long-term vision for Broadgate. Our two organisations already know each other well and we look forward to working with GIC to deliver value for our respective shareholders from what is one of Central London’s premier office locations.”

6. Tim Roberts, Head of Offices at British Land, said, “We see a significant opportunity to move Broadgate from a more traditional City-oriented office estate into a vibrant mixed-used campus serving not just the City but also the emerging districts to the north and east of the City. We’ve had an excellent relationship with Blackstone at Broadgate. GIC is a strong new partner with a long history in real estate and we are excited at the prospect of working with the team over the coming years.”

7. Christopher Morrish, Regional Head, Europe, GIC Real Estate said, “We are pleased to be partnering British Land in the ownership of Broadgate and share their long term vision for the estate. Together we will continue to enhance the value of the asset through active repositioning and redevelopment of the office buildings and by enhancement of the retail and leisure facilities. With the improving rail links, this will attract a broad range of occupiers to the estate.”