AXA Real Estate Investment Managers acquires 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2 from Pinnacle No 1 Limited to develop new building partnering Lipton Rogers Developments

AXA Real Estate and Lipton Rogers Developments to develop landmark City of London tower

LONDON, 23-2-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (“AXA Real Estate”), the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe(1) , announces that it has exchanged contracts, on behalf of an international consortium of investors, to acquire 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2 (formerly known as The Pinnacle) from Pinnacle No 1 Limited to develop a new building partnering Lipton Rogers Developments.

In the all-equity transaction, AXA Real Estate, acting as development & asset manager, on behalf of the international consortium of investors, has retained Lipton Rogers as developer. The consortium intends to develop a new landmark tower, designed by leading architects PLP, at the heart of the City of London, close to Liverpool Street Station. The new tower will provide over 1 million sqft of prime offices, including retail as well as restaurant and bar space. There will be a public viewing gallery at the top of the building. Pinnacle No 1 Limited will retain an interest in the top floors of the building which will provide a unique leisure offer with separate ground floor access.

A planning application for the new 22 Bishopsgate tower will be submitted within the next few months. Construction is expected to commence by the end of 2015 with completion scheduled for the end of 2018.

AXA Real Estate, on behalf of the investors’ consortium, is advised by JLL and CBRE advised Pinnacle No 1 Limited.

Anne Kavanagh, Global Head of Asset Management & Transactions at AXA Real Estate, commented: “The acquisition of 22 Bishopsgate represents a significant opportunity to purchase a prime office development site at one of the most desirable office locations in the City of London. Our experience of underwriting development opportunities and putting together international investor clubs has been pivotal to bringing a transaction of this size and complexity together. The project has enormous potential and we believe that the combination of AXA Real Estate’s strong track record of development in London and internationally, together with the long term prospects of London as a world leading city and international finance centre, present a compelling investment opportunity.”

Sir Stuart Lipton, Partner of Lipton Rogers, said: “We are now delighted to be partnering with AXA Real Estate having worked on 22 Bishopsgate with PLP Architects and WSP for over three years. We have developed an innovative design for an exceptional office tower with art and character, shaped to respect views of the City and designed to be more than an office building with social amenity spaces, restaurants, bars and retail units as a new vertical City campus reflecting the City’s ever changing consumer base.”

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AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXA Investment Managers, is the largest real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe(1), with over €54 billion of assets under management as at the end of December 2014. It has over 160 third party institutional clients spread across the world, in addition to managing funds for 10 AXA insurance companies.
With over 500 real estate professionals operating in 23 countries, AXA Real Estate’s competitive advantage stems from its global fund management expertise combined with extensive on-the-ground deal sourcing, asset management and development execution capabilities.
AXA Real Estate structures and actively manages or advises investment products, seeking wide ranging opportunities along the risk spectrum to deliver targeted returns commensurate with clients’ risk profiles, through a variety of investment strategies. These range from core to value-add and opportunistic, country-specific to geographically-diversified, sector-specific to multi-sector, with the capacity to invest at all levels of the capital structure.
Global growth remains a key priority and AXA Real Estate has expanded its presence in both the U.S. and Asia. Assets under management have grown from €17 billion 15 years ago to over €54 billion today. Over the last 15 years, AXA Real Estate has successfully developed over 250 projects in eight European countries for a total of more than €10 billion and has over €5.8 billion current projects under management. Visit our website: www.axa-realestate.com

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with approximately €607 billion in assets under management as of the end of September 2014. AXA IM employs over 2,400 people around the world and operates out of 26 offices in 21 countries. Visit our internet website: www.axa-im.com

(1)Source: INREV Survey 2013 published in May 2014

Lipton Rogers Developments LLP (“Lipton Rogers”) specialises in major developments in and around Central London designed very specifically to meet the business and social needs of major corporate companies. The partnership was formed in 2013 by Sir Stuart Lipton and Peter Rogers, former founding partners of Stanhope, together with Rupert Clarke, former CEO of Hermes. Lipton and Rogers have completed over 30m sqft of development in London over the last thirty years including a high proportion of London’s most high profile modern developments including Broadgate, Paternoster Square, Stockley Park and Chiswick Parkand more than 35 buildings of over 100,000 sqft in the City.
Lipton Rogers development activity primarily focuses on sites with major challenges and opportunities, requiring creative design and delivery solutions. View the Lipton Rogers website on: www.liptonrogers.com

Press Contacts

AXA Real Estate
Charline Coué, Media Relations
charline.coue@axa-im.com
Jocelyne Tamssom, Head of Communications
jocelyne.tamssom@axa-im.com
Tél.: +33 1 44 45 97 95

FTI Consulting Inc.
Richard Sunderland, Clare Glynn, Ellie Sweeney
Tel.: +44 20 3727 1000
AXARealEstate@fticonsulting.com

Lipton Rogers Developments

Rupert Clarke
Tel.: +44 (0)20 3757 0575
clarke@liptonrogers.com