Malaysian funds buy Battersea Power Station for £1.6bn in biggest ever UK property deal

battersea
Battersea Power Station has been valued at £1.6bn

Two Malaysian state-backed funds have said they will buy Battersea Power Station in a deal that values it at around £1.6bn - making it the biggest property deal carried out in the UK.

The terms of the deal value it ahead of the UK's biggest ever property transaction, the £1.28bn sale of the 'Walkie Talkie' skyscraper in the City last year, which was acquired by a Hong Kong firm.

Asset management group Permodalan Nasional Berhad, which has £50bn of assets under management, plans to buy the building with pension fund Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia, which controls the private sector pension pot.

The buyers will also provide a cash injection that will allow Battersea Power Station's restoration - which has been hampered by increased costs and delays - to be finished. 

They are buying the stake from Malysian developers Sime Darby Property and SP Setia, in which PNB is a major shareholder and so indirectly owns part of the development. EPF also owns 20pc of the entire development, and will switch from a developer to an asset manager in this reorganisation. 

Rob Ticknell, the chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company
Rob Ticknell, the chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company Credit:  Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

Planning documents released last year revealed that due to rising and unexpected costs of restoring the Grade II listed building, and lower demand for luxury homes, the developers were forecast to make less than half of their original return target, from 20pc to 8.2pc.

This also led to the development slashing the number of affordable homes it would build as it claimed that due to financial pressures they were "unviable". It was originally bought by the Malyasian consortium for £400m in 2012.

PNB and EPF will own phase two of the bigger development project, which includes the heritage building itself, new headquarters for Apple, and 250 apartments that are mostly sold; the first phase, known as Circus West Village, has already been completed. 

The entire Battersea Power Station project consists of 42 acres and includes 4,364 new homes. Sime Property and SP Setia remain the developers of the other five phases of the development, which is due to be completed by 2028.

Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) said that the reorganisation of the ownership of the development would “create a long-term asset management and ownership structure”.

A spokesman said: “The Battersea Power Station building will provide both investors with a unique investment opportunity to own an iconic development in the heart of London. With the conclusion of the proposed transaction, BPSDC will remain the active manager of the development.

“This creates a solid platform that will ensure the protection, active management and control of the historically important building are maintained.”

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