MIPIM 2012: Birmingham sets sights on sovereign wealth fund investment
BIRMINGHAM is offering a partnership to cash rich sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) as a means of attracting around £1bn of investment into the city’s property portfolio.
The city’s delegation at the MIPIM property development and inward investment show in Cannes this week is targeting SWFs from Abu Dhabi, China, Norway and Saudi Arabia for foreign direct investment into key development areas within Birmingham.
Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council said: “In the current economic climate, finding the funding needed for ambitious development projects can be challenging. Sovereign wealth funds have the means, liquidity and long-term vision to support such investments and could be the key to unlocking Birmingham’s potential as a truly competitive global city.”
Cllr Whitby will launch the Sovereign Wealth & Institutional Funds Prospectus at an event this afternoon on stand R27.09 in the Palais. The prospectus highlights nine developments and opportunities for SWFs to partner on their delivery.
He continued: “This is the next step in a campaign of targeted dialogue for Birmingham with the world’s leading SWFs and, over the next ten months, we are planning to engage the most active and able funds with the full extent of the city’s investment opportunities. We believe we are one of the only UK cities targeting these funds in this way.”
Among the investment opportunities within Birmingham’s prospectus is Eastside – a key site that will house the planned High Speed 2 station building as well as Eastside Locks (a high density urban business park) and Masshouse (a 74,000 sq m site containing Grade A office space as well as retail and residential elements) – which represents a combined capital investment opportunity of £310m.
Another leading site, which is seeking a £100m investment, is Paradise Circus – a city centre redevelopment project that will link the prestigious Southside business and entertainment district to the main city centre. The project is a partnership between the city council and developer Argent.
Gary Cardin, partner at property consultancy Drivers Jonas Deloitte in the Midlands and chairman of professional services lobbying group Birmingham Forward, said: “Birmingham offers SWFs and institutional investors an investment opportunity which few cities globally can match.”
TheBusinessDesk.com’s coverage of MIPIM 2012 is in conjunction with Business Birmingham, the city’s inward investment programme, which is part of the city’s delegation in Cannes.
Visit Business Birmingham’s MIPIM page here.
For more stories about Birmingham at MIPIM from TheBusinessDesk.com click here.
