STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 11 August 2014

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24. Norway’s Wealth Fund Buys $576 Million of Mayfair Area

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-11/norway-s-oil-fund-buys-576-million-stake-in-london-s-mayfair.html

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, bought a stake in an estate in London’s Mayfair district for 343 million pounds ($576 million), expanding its property holdings in the U.K. capital.

The fund bought a 57.8 percent share in the 4-acre (1.6-hectare) Pollen Estate between Regent Street and Bond Street from the Church Commissioners for England, Oslo-based Norges Bank Investment Management said today. Separately, the Crown Estate acquired a 6.4 percent stake for 38 million pounds.

In 2010, the Norwegian fund agreed to buy a $772 million stake in Regent Street from the Crown Estate. The Pollen Estate’s 43 properties include office and retail space on Savile Row, famous for its tailors, and Cork Street. The buildings will continue to be managed by the trustee company.

The yield on the purchase is probably about 2.5 percent, which “underscores the premium buyers are willing to pay to get critical mass in key U.K. markets,” Mike Prew, an analyst at Jefferies Group LLC, said by e-mail. The yield is the rent expressed as a percentage of the purchase price.

***The Vikings part 2