REAL estate fund manager ARA Asset Management's (ARA) Korea subsidiary has acquired Marble Arch Place - a newly developed mixed-used commercial asset in London - for £280 million (S$509 million).

The latest acquisition from London-based property investment company Almacantar, via 2 new private real estate funds managed by ARA Korea (REF), will pave the way for more outbound investments across Europe, North America, and Pan Asia, said Anthony Kang, chief executive officer (CEO) of ARA Korea in a press statement on Friday (Dec 17).

Marble Arch Place is located at London's West End, comprising over 141,000 square feet of luxury office, residential and retail space.

The property is also multi-let to a "diverse base of high quality" tenants, and has a long weighted average lease term to expiry of 15 years. This includes the office building at 5 Marble Arch which was in 2019 pre-let to Bridgepoint, a London-listed international private equity firm.

Marble Arch Place is also in the vicinity of Marble Arch Station and Lancaster Gate Station as well as Mayfair, Hyde Park and the Connaught Village districts.

"Given London's status as the world's leading financial and innovation hub, it continues to draw strong demand for its commercial assets from global investors, including Korean institutional investors," said Kang.

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"With close to 90 per cent occupancy, we are confident that it will attract other high quality tenants with its prime location, state-of-the-art facilities, and accessibility to other parts of London," he added.

NH Investment & Securities underwrote most of the requisite equity along with a co-investment from ARA, as with its investments in Seoul Square and Parc.1 Tower II transactions previously. The deal was facilitated by ARA's specialist UK real estate investor and active asset manager, ARA Dunedin.

Said Roun Barry, CEO of ARA Dunedin: "We are delighted to have completed another complex transaction in London as part of our strategy of acquiring best-in-class assets. Over the past year, we have acquired Nova Estate in Victoria and Minster Building in the City for our partners, leveraging our extensive experience in the UK to close on deals despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic."