Listed property group Frasers Centrepoint Ltd and Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) announced that they have agreed to acquire Farnborough Business Park in the UK for £174.6 million (approximately $314.8 million). Frasers Centrepoint and FCOT will hold equal stakes in the joint venture.
Farnborough Business Park is a 46.5 ha freehold, high quality business park with 14 commercial buildings and total net lettable area of 554,672 sq ft. The site is located in Thames Valley, west of London. The business park has an occupancy rate of 98.1%, and healthy tenant retention of about 89%. It has a diversified tenant base with 36 tenants including well-established corporations such as Fluor Limited, INC Research UK Ltd, Time Inc (UK) Ltd and Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Ltd. The property has a long weighted average lease of 8.3 years.
Farnborough Business Park is linked to key motorways and direct train service to Waterloo Station, London. It’s located about 1.6 km to Farnborough Town Centre, adjacent to the TAG Farnborough Airport and Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre as well as about 40 km away from London’s Heathrow Airport.
It’s also located within the micro-market of Blackwater Valley (part of Thames Valley), which has a large pool of highly skilled labour. Hence, the area is especially attractive to technology and engineering companies which benefit from access to research institutions, universities, amenities, transport connectivity and residential areas.