Balanced Commercial Property Trust has agreed the sale of three office holdings in a strategic move to reduce its office exposure. The sale comprises two regional out-of-town business park holdings in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and a multi-let asset in London’s West End.

The sales have been agreed at an aggregate sale price of £42.8m, representing a 0.3% discount against September 2023’s independent valuation, the last valuation prior to the assets being launched to market.

The sales assets are:

• Nevis & Ness House, Edinburgh Park, a 42,000 sq ft headquarters office occupied by Diageo Scotland Limited;
• Building 4, Prime Four Business Park, Aberdeen a 25,000 sq ft training centre occupied by Maersk Training UK Limited; and
• 2-4 King Street, London SW1, a multi-let holding of 15,000 sq ft in London’s West End. The sale of this asset will complete mid-January.

The sales have been executed as part of BCPT’s strategy to reduce portfolio exposure to the office sector. Following the completion of the disposals, BCPT’s office exposure will fall to 25.4% by capital value from 28.4% (as at September 2023) as the company continues to align its portfolio towards structurally supported growth sectors such as industrial & logistics, retail warehousing and operational alternatives.

Richard Kirby, fund manager, said: “Our investment ethos has always focused on high quality real estate with strong fundamentals, and the pricing achieved on these sales underlines the importance of taking a quality-led approach. Our active management of the asset base ensures the portfolio is always evolving to capitalise on underlying market dynamics and we expect to make further positive announcements in the near future.“

BCPT : Balanced Commercial Property Trust sells trio of offices for £42.8m