Herbies, Links win roles on White Tower property sale

Carlyle European Real Estate Partners III, assisted by Herbert Smith real estate partner Simon Price, sold 60 Victoria Embankment to JPMorgan for an undisclosed amount less than six months after buying it.

The 420,000sq ft Victoria Embankment property was the largest in a string of assets picked up by Carlyle last summer.

Other acquisitions included Ludgate House, Sampson House, Millenium Bridge House, BSI Tower and Alban Gate. The purchases were all part of a disposal of the so-called White Tower portfolio.

The properties had backed the White Tower 2006-3 loan note issued by property tycoon Simon Halabi, but were put on the market after a revaluation put the portfolio at half of the £1.8bn it had originally been worth (The Lawyer, 19 July 2010).

JPMorgan was advised ­by real estate development and investment partner Christopher Coombe at ­Linklaters.

Other buildings in the White Tower portfolio that were sold are New Court on London’s Carey Street, which was bought by Schroders fund Welput for around £60m, and Leadenhall Court, which was sold to Hammerson for around £65m.

The buyers were advised by Norton Rose partner David Sinclair and Nabarro partner Simon Staite respectively.