M&G Prudential invests in London office complex

M&G Prudential, an affiliate of M&G Investments, is investing £875 million in 40 Leadenhall in the City of London, where it will develop a new 905,000 square foot prime office complex. The firm is purchasing the site through its £144 billion Prudential with-profits fund, on behalf of the fund’s five million UK policyholders.

Jack Daniels, CIO of M&G Prudential, said: “As one of the world’s largest commercial property investors and manager of the UK’s largest with-profits fund, we are one of the few investors able to acquire projects of this size when an attractive opportunity arises.”

Tony Brown, global head of M&G Real Estate, added: “London’s commercial property market currently offers good value relative to other capital cities such as Paris and Tokyo, partly due to Brexit-related uncertainty.”

The property has been acquired from AIMCO and Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest investment managers in the world, through its established central London offices platform. The site has permission for the development of two towers, providing 14 and 34 storeys of predominantly office space. The new buildings’ carbon emissions will be 30% below current regulations.

The deal was structured by M&G Prudential’s commercial property arm, M&G Real Estate, a leading financial solutions provider for global real estate investors.