Covent Garden market in London
Julian Elliott Photography | Stone | Getty Images
Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund — the largest of its kind in the world — on Thursday said that it struck a deal to buy a quarter of a property portfolio in London’s iconic Covent Garden, in its latest bet on the U.K. capital’s premium real estate.
In a new joint venture, the fund’s manager Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) said it will pay £570 million ($739 million) for a 25% stake in British property developer Shaftesbury Capital’s London property portfolio, which the deal values at £2.7 billion in its entirety.
NBIM said the portfolio comprises 1.5 million square feet properties, predominantly used for retail and leisure purposes, within the London districts of Covent Garden and Seven Dials.
London-listed shares of Shaftesbury Capital jumped nearly 16% at the market open before paring gains slightly. The stock was last up 8.9% by 9:55 a.m. London time.
“This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments,” Jayesh Patel, head of U.K. real estate at NBIM, said in a statement.
It follows a £306 million investment by the Norwegian state wealth fund for a 25% in the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor estate in January.
The joint venture, which again granted NBIM a 25% stake, was worth £1.2 billion pounds and marked the largest sale to outside investors in Grosvenor’s historic Mayfair estate.
The two deals bring the sovereign wealth fund’s total investment in London this year to £876 million.
NBIM also on Thursday said that it agreed to pay 240 million euros for a 40% stake in AXA Lifestyle Housing, an owner and operator of student housing and co-living properties in Spain and France.