British Land Regulatory News (BLND)

24th July 2014

Specialist insurer Rothesay Life agrees terms at The Leadenhall Building

British Land and Oxford Properties are pleased to announce the signing of an Agreement for Lease with a leading specialist pensions insurer, Rothesay Life, for level 25 at The Leadenhall Building.

Level 25 provides 13,594 sq ft of space and Rothesay Life will take a 10 year lease with an option to break after five years. Rothesay Life, established in 2007, has become one of the leading providers of regulated insurance solutions in the UK market for pensions de-risking and is owned by Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, GIC and MassMutual.

Jonathan Sarkar, Chief Operating Officer of Rothesay Life said: "We looked at a number of options and The Leadenhall Building offered the best combination of space, services and flexibility. We are excited to be moving there and it is perfectly placed to meet our business needs now and as we grow."

Tim Roberts, Head of Offices at British Land said: "Rothesay's decision to come to The Leadenhall Building is a further endorsement of the building's distinctive qualities. It is the fourth letting we have completed during the construction phase, all to companies that are leaders in their fields." 

Mike Rayner, Head of Development at Oxford Properties said: "Our objective at The Leadenhall Building has always been to create something exceptional, and to have attracted a business of Rothesay's standing is evidence of the building's appeal to the occupier market and the relevance of its unique design, flexibility and customer service offer."

The Leadenhall Building, which comprises 610,000 sq ft of office space, is now 53% pre-let following commitments with international insurance broker Aon, who are relocating their global headquarters from Chicago, global speciality insurer and reinsurer Amlin, and Servcorp, one of the world's leading serviced office businesses.

The building, which at 224 metres is the tallest in the City of London, was designed by the renowned architecture practice Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

British Land and Oxford Properties were advised by DTZ and Jones Lang Lasalle.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

British Land

Investor Relations

Sally Jones, British Land 0207 467 2942

Media

Pip Wood, British Land 020 7467 2838

Gordon Simpson, Finsbury 020 7251 3801

Oxford Properties

Ceri Edwards 020 7842 4988

Notes to Editors

About British Land

We are one of Europe's largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London Offices & Residential. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed of £17.6 billion (British Land share of which is £11.9 billion), as valued at 31 March 2014. Our properties are home to over 1,000 different organisations and receive over 300 million visits each year. Our objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people's everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to effectively finance these places.

UK Retail assets account for 53% (pro forma for developments at estimated end value) of our portfolio. As the UK's largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today, from major regional shopping centres to single occupier locations. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising around 25 million sq ft of retail space across 63 retail parks, 82 superstores, 14 shopping centres, 12 department stores and 77 leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 47% (pro forma for developments at estimated end value) of our portfolio is focused on London. We have an attractive mix of high‑quality buildings in well‑managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.3 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent's Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).

Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to the delivery of our overall objective of driving shareholder value and creating Places People Prefer.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com

About Oxford Properties 

Oxford Properties is one of the world's leading real estate companies. A global platform for real estate investment, development and management, with over 1,700 employees and approximately $27 billion of real assets that it manages for itself and on behalf of its co-owners and investment partners. Established in 1960, Oxford was acquired in 2001 by OMERS, one of Canada's largest pension funds with over $65 billion in assets. Oxford has regional offices in Toronto, London and New York, each with investment, development and management professionals who have deep real estate expertise and local market insight. For more information visit www.oxfordproperties.com