CapitaLand acquires prime freehold Arlington Business Park for £129m

CapitaLand has agreed to acquire a prime freehold business park in the UK for £129.3m.

Arlington Business Park is located in Reading and is comprised of 11 Grade A office buildings totalling about 367,000 square feet of net lettable area.

Mr Jason Leow, president, Singapore & International, CapitaLand Group, said: “The acquisition of Arlington Business Park is part of CapitaLand’s plan to increase our investments in developed markets such as Europe, Japan and the USA.

“Our strengthened presence in Europe will enable the group to maintain a balanced portfolio between emerging and developed markets.

“Post integration with Ascendas-Singbridge, we have acquired strong expertise in business parks. We can leverage this deep experience and our strong network of tenants to value add to Arlington Business Park.

“As we build up our portfolio in Europe, we have greater optionality in spinning off such assets into investment vehicles or partnerships, continuing to deliver value for our stakeholders.”

The business park is located close to Junction 12 of the M4 motorway providing excellent connectivity for tenants.

London Heathrow Airport is a 30-minute drive away.

Theale train station is a five-minute walk away, offering direct access to London within 40 minutes.

The Crossrail train line, which is due to open in 2021 will reduce travelling time into central London.

The acquisition of Arlington Business Park expands CapitaLand’s assets under management (AUM) in Europe to $4.8bn.