Birmingham office building snapped up for almost £30m

An office building in Birmingham city centre, home to Lloyds Bank, has been snapped up for almost £30m.

The deal for the 78,000 sq ft 2 Brindleyplace is the first for Aver Property, a new partnership between Ergo Real Estate and NFU Mutual.

The building, constructed in 1997, was acquired from Hansainvest for £29.25m, and is let to Lloyds Bank until March 2022 at a rent of £2m a year. The price shows a slight reduction in the building’s value from when it was sold in November 2008 for £30.5m.

Martin Jepson, co-founder of Ergo Real Estate, said: “2 Brindleyplace is a fantastic first acquisition for the partnership.

“It is a headquarters office building in an established office market, providing us with opportunities for asset enhancement and rental growth.”

Tom Bostock, property investment manager at NFU Mutual, added: “We are delighted with the acquisition of 2 Brindley Place, Birmingham, which part seeds our Aver fund and aligns to our strategy with Ergo of investing in a range of opportunities that add diversification and growth potential to our existing prime UK property portfolio.”

Aver Property said the acquisition is in line with its strategy to make “value-add and opportunistic acquisitions” in the UK of commercial property assets.

Aver Property said it aims to invest £300m in the London conurbation, the south east of England and “other major UK conurbations”.

Colliers International, Corbett Northam and CBRE acted on the deal.