Law firm Addleshaw Goddard has advised Kamco Invest on the acquisition of Enterprise House in Paddington from a private investor. 

The six-storey, 45,000 sq ft office building, which is located less than 150m from the new Elizabeth Line at Paddington Station, is currently under lease by Network Rail on a 13-year term. Enterprise House was refurbished in 2011 for a cost of over £10m and reaches a BREEAM 'Very Good' rating. The Art Deco building was designed and constructed in 1935 by P.E Culverhouse, chief architect of the Great Western Railway.

The deal represents the Kuwait-based investor's first acquisition of a London office building. Enterprise House will be managed by M7 Real Estate.

Addleshaw Goddard advised on all aspects of the transaction, including (i) the corporate acquisition of the property-holding SPV; (ii) the structuring and establishment of the shari'ah compliant acquisition structure and the associated equity financing arrangements by way of a commodity murabaha (iii) the asset management arrangements with M7 Real Estate and (iv) the conventional debt acquisition facility with Societe Generale. 

The cross-practice AG team was led by Leona Ahmed, Real Estate Partner and Head of the firm's London office, who was supported on the real estate aspects by Anita Shanhgavi (Managing Associate).  Sarah Egbu (Partner) led on the conventional financing aspects with support from Emma Warby (Associate).  Liam Diggins (Legal Director) and Peter Sayer (Partner) led on the corporate and tax aspects of the transaction, with support from Dhaksha Giga (Associate) and Catherine Concannon (Managing Associate), respectively. Ben Farnworth and Jamie-Lee Harris provided paralegal support.

Mohammad Al Othman, Executive Director, Real Estate Investments at Kamco Invest, said: 

“We are pleased with the successful acquisition of our first Central London property. Enterprise House is great addition to our international real estate portfolio as it falls in line with our investment strategy of pursuing prime real estate investments with long-leased, single, and multi-let, Grade A office properties occupied by highly reputable tenants that provide secure long-term income streams to our investors.”

Leona Ahmed, Partner and Head of London at Addleshaw Goddard, said:

"We're seeing a lot of interest in the London office market by overseas investors, in large part due to the UK's successful vaccine roll-out and easing of lockdown restrictions.

"Enterprise House is a particularly attractive investment because of its long-term, government-backed rental covenant and recent refurbishment."

David Ebbrell, Chief Executive of M7 Real Estate, added: “We are really pleased to continue our partnership with Kamco Invest Group with the acquisition of a further four office properties. These transactions demonstrate our confidence in carefully selected office assets and we have now assembled a sizeable portfolio of high quality properties generating long term income which are situated in attractive office markets. We look forward to managing these assets and adding to the portfolio with suitable assets going forward.”