Benson Elliott completes first deal for €510m fund

Benson Elliot Capital Management, the London-based private equity real estate firm led by former Doughty Hanson executive Marc Mogull, has teamed up with local developer Stanhope to purchase a majority stake in a large office development in the UK.

The partners have acquired the stake in Station Hill, a development project in Reading, being developed by Sackville Properties, another local developer, for an undisclosed price.

The project, labelled in an announcement on the deal as the ‘centrepiece of plans to renew the heart of Reading’ is expected to be developed in stages, the first of which is on course for a 2013 completion.

Station Hill is expected to comprise 80,000 square metres of office space and 900 residential units as well as various other amenities, when completed.

The investment by Benson Elliot will be the first for its Benson Elliot Real Estate Partners III fund which closed on €510 million of equity in February 2009.

Benson Elliott was founded in 2005, after Mogull, departed from his role as head of Doughty Hanson’s European Real Estate Fund. It raised €335 million for its first private equity real estate fund, Benson Elliot Real Estate Partners II, closing the vehicle in April 2006. The firm invests its capital across the UK and continental Europe.