Gatehouse Bank Delivers £43 Million Investment Opportunity To GCC Investors

Published July 6th, 2010 - 11:28 GMT

Gatehouse Bank plc (Gatehouse), the London based Shariah compliant wholesale investment bank, has completed the acquisition of a prime office building in Leeds, UK for £43.719 million. Working closely with its sister company GSH Kuwait, Gatehouse delivered to its GCC investor clients a unique investment opportunity that provides an average cash yield of 9.1% per annum net of all fees, costs and local taxes, with distributions to be paid monthly over a 3 year investment period.

The acquisition is a six story Grade A office property that is fully let to British Telecommunications plc (BT), one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world with global operations in over 170 countries. The property is let until September 2020, providing over ten years of secure income for investors that have entered into the transaction.

Gatehouse has a proven track record sourcing and delivering rare and exclusive real estate investment opportunities to GCC investors in the UK market with product and expertise excellence that is backed by rigorous and transparent regulatory principles in London. With a specialist team of real estate experts, they are re-engineering a product base that speaks to the end customer, offering unique services that add value with depth of research, comprehensive analysis as well as ongoing advisory in real estate investment opportunities.

Sameer Al Gharaballi, Vice Chairman of the board of directors at Gatehouse Bank stated, "GCC investors have a raised awareness about investment products, and we understand that they undertake a prudent approach to balancing risk and reward when making important investment decisions. Knowing that their investments are placed in solid asset classes is a primary concern for our clients, and with the BT office acquisition, Gatehouse has continued to meet the requirements of its investors and nurture their long term investment goals by delivering them exclusive off-market opportunities such as these- Grade A property transactions with strong tenancy offering sustainable returns, as well as long term value with uncompromising advisory support.

It is also pleasing to witness strong investor interest and engagement in the real estate investment opportunities we have presented to the market. For the benefit of GCC investors who are keen to develop and diversify their portfolio of investments in UK commercial property, GSH and Gatehouse remain open to discussion with new and existing clients who want to take first mover advantage in these deals while limited subscription remains available".

Philip Churchill, Head of Real Estate and Asset Finance at Gatehouse, commented: "This latest acquisition brings the total value of our portfolio to more than £130 million. This is a major transaction, particularly in a recovering market, and makes a significant addition to the high quality portfolio that we have established for our clients over the last six months. It is clear that the appetite from GCC investors for prime real estate investments remains unabated, and we look forward to working on further acquisitions in the near future."

Gatehouse Bank provides a diverse range of real estate investment opportunities to the investor market, from offices to student accommodation and health care facilities in the UK, Europe and wider international markets in Asia and the US.

BT was represented by DTZ in the transaction, whilst Volaw acted as the offshore administrator.