A fund launched by former Hines directors Rob Rackind and Edouard Fernandez and backed by some of Russia’s richest businessmen has bought the 23-storey office block No.1 Croydon from Dalek Real Estate for £31m.
Wainbridge Global Opportunities London bought the building, which is known locally as the 50p building because it resembles a stack of 50p coins.
The acquisition has been financed through more than £20m of debt provided by Deutsche Pfandbriefbank.
The fund’s manager Jersey-based property investment manager Wainbridge Capital today announced it has completed the first close of the debut real estate fund, of £50m (equity) from businessmen, who are seeking to gain exposure primarily to office assets in London and other key real estate markets.
Wainbridge co-founder Rob Rackind said, “We are now actively seeking value-add investment opportunities in central and Greater London.
“These will typically be complex assets with a degree of capex or leasing risk that require experienced teams to turn them around.
“Once the final close is complete we will have up to £285m to deploy across this dynamic market.
“Following the investment in No 1 Croydon, we have already begun to identify a number of other investment opportunities for the fund and anticipate making further investments soon.”
The total cost of each project is expected to be between £20m-50m, though the fund said it may undertake larger investments through co-investment or joint venture structures.
lucy.barnard@estatesgazette.com
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