Asset manager M&G Investments is to provide £113m of development finance for Scottish Power’s new headquarters in Glasgow.
The loan has been made from M&G’s £1.53bn Secured Property Income Fund, and takes total loans made from the fund to £400m. Most recently, the fund provided finance for 233 student accommodation units at Aberfeldy New Village, East London, as part of Swansea University’s new London campus.
M&G has acquired the freehold for land on Glasgow’s India Street and St Vincent Street and has worked with Scottish Power and development partner Helical Bar to provide funding for the scheme. The office is expected to be completed by 2015, when a 25-year lease will be granted to Scottish Power with annual rent reviews linked to inflation.
Ben Jones, manager of the M&G Secured Property Income Fund, said: “Funding projects such as this, at a time when traditional development finance is hard to come by, enables firms such as Scottish Power to continue to meet their evolving occupational and operational requirements. For this reason, we have invested and intend to continue investing, in similar infrastructure and other development finance opportunities across the UK which will provide our pension fund clients with high-quality, long-term income streams linked to inflation.”
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
