1 New Fetter Lane

Pinsent Curtis Biddle completed this deal for long term client Close Brothers, buying 1 New Fetter Lane in London for £45m. The office is already pre-let to New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell on a 16-and-a-half-year lease at an annual rent of £3.2m.
The property was acquired by Close Brothers on behalf of a number of private investors who together comprised 10 limited partnerships. The acquisition was funded partly through participations from the investors and partly through a non-recourse loan facility from Bank of Scotland.
The property was purchased part way through the construction programme from a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The developer's obligations were originally guaranteed by Delancey and the transaction was complicated by the need to vary documentation entered into, before Close Brothers' involvement, by the developer and Delancey with City Corporation (freeholder), Skanska (building contractor) and Sullivan & Cromwell (tenant) to protect the interests of the investors and Bank of Scotland.
Jonathan Brocklehurst, a property partner based in the firm's Leeds office, led the team on the deal.