Chinese sovereign wealth invests £155m in Manchester offices

Chinese sovereign wealth fund Ginkgo Tree Investment has been suggested as one of the primary stakeholders behind the Co-Operative Group’s landmark new headquarters in Manchester.

A report released in Property Week yesterday indicates that the Chinese state-owned fund is one member of the consortium thought to be finalising the £155m purchase of One Angel Square, adjacent to Manchester Victoria station.

The deal is expected to be announced this afternoon, and will represent the first instance since the economic crisis of a Far Eastern wealth fund investing in the UK's regional office space market – a likely signifier of stabilised growth in 2013.

Institutional asset managers RREEF are fronting the deal, having adopted a leading role in attracting investment from Asia in recent times, whilst Jones Lang LaSalle and WHR served in an advisory capacity. A number of partners in the consortium are also thought to be from the Far East, including a Malaysian pension fund who are rumoured to have a significant stake.

The deal for One Angel Square – a 330,000 sq ft complex attached to the northern end of the mammoth mixed-use NOMA development – will yield just under 6% through its index-linked 25-year lease.

The Investment Company of the People’s Republic of China (Singapore) – an investment arm of the Chinese Government’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange - is the sole shareholder in Gingko Tree, having been inducted as a UK company in 2009. Gingko Tree is administered from the offices of the People’s Bank of China in the City of London.

In other regional news, NOMA have agreed a two-year partnership deal with music and art festival FutureEverything that includes a one-off summit of ideas and digital invention. FutureEverything is working in conjunction with Manchester Science Parks, lawyers Ward Hadaway, Arts Council England, Manchester City Council, New Economy, MIDAS and Marketing Manchester.

Ruairidh Jackson, strategy and development director for NOMA, said: “Throughout the development of NOMA and its first phase, One Angel Square, the new head office for The Co-operative Group, we have adopted some cutting-edge ideas and technology, making the development one of the most forward-thinking in the UK and Europe.”

Photo courtesy of The Co-Operative