Rockpoint invests £410m in London

Rockpoint Group has bought Cutlers Gardens, a 600,000-square foot office building near Liverpool Street station, for approximately £410 million (€613 million; $780 million) in one of the largest investment deals in Central London.

The property was sold by joint owners JP Morgan and O’Connor Capital. It is partly leased to insurance giant Aon.

The deal comes less than a year after Rockpoint raised $1.7 billion for Rockpoint Real Estate Fund II. The fund is targeting the US, Japan and Europe.

At the time of the fund closing Rockpoint said it would focus on “distressed, restructuring and deep value creation” investment opportunities.

The firm expected to spend up to 45% of its equity commitments outside the US.

Rockpoint was formed in 2003 by former principals of Westbrook Partners. Its founders include Westbrook co-founder William Walton, Patrick Fox, Keith Gelb, Gregory Hartman and Jonathan Paul.

The London property it is buying was redeveloped by Sir Stuart Lipton, one of Britain’s foremost developers in the early 1980s. It used to serve as a warehouse for the East India Company.

It is reported the yield is approximately 4.7 percent.

Rockpoint has also been linked with 30 St Mary Axe in London’s financial district, a striking new tower on London’s skyline otherwise known as the Gherkin.

Owner Swiss Re, the reinsurance firm, has put a £600 million price tag (€897 million; $1.1 billion) on the property.