NPS buys Goldman London HQ for £1.2b

Goldman Sachs Group has agreed to a deal with South Korea's National Pension service to sell and lease back its new London headquarters, in a transaction valuing the property at £1.16 billion ($1.5 billion).

“We are excited to re-enter into London market with this high quality asset which is well-aligned with our defensive strategy and will be an excellent addition to our already strong core portfolio,” said Scott Kim, the head of global real estate at National Pension Service.

The U.S. bank will move into the 826,000-square-foot Plumtree Court office in the financial district next year. It has taken a 25-year lease on the building.

Completion of the acquisition is set to take place in January 2019.

Plumtree Court is very well located in the CBD and in an area which has undergone significant development in recent years attracting a diverse range of global occupiers including Amazon, Deloitte, BAML and JP Morgan. As such, the property has very strong fundamentals in terms of location, quality of build and long income potential.

IREN reported the sale earlier this month.