Murray Capital Group strikes deal to sell major Edinburgh office development

The Edinburgh-based group is poised to complete the sale of Exchange Plaza to M&G Real Estate, trade publication React News has said.

The property on Lothian Road is home to Cairn Energy, Artemis Fund Managers, Leeds Building Society, BrewDog and the All Bar One restaurant group, and is currently fully occupied after law firm Burness Paull almost doubled the size of its Edinburgh office when it took up space there late last year.

Commercial property firm JLL was appointed to market the 100,000-square-foot and six-storey site, located in the Scottish capital’s financial district, using a guide price of £54m – and the deal reportedly now agreed is understood to be close to that level.

While none of the parties have officially commented on the sale, the reports claim it represents an initial yield of around 5.3 per cent and will see Murray conclude 13 years of ownership, after adding the asset to its portfolio for £53m in 2006.

JLL is representing Murray Capital, while Savills is advising the purchaser.

M&G, which has around £33 billion in funds under management, made the purchase on behalf of an overseas fund rather than one of its retail funds, the reports claim.

Last year, M&G acquired the four-acre mixed-use development site The Haymarket for £49.1m, with plans now progressing for an office-led scheme totalling 380,000 sq ft.

In Glasgow, the investor owns 1 West Regent Street and has plans to build out a 200,000 sq ft office known as The Grid, while it also has a sizeable ground rent portfolio around Aberdeen.

Murray Capital operates across industries including metals, real estate, wine importing and information technology services.

It was divested to Sir David Murray’s family from Murray International Holdings in 2010.

He launched his first enterprise, Murray International Metals, in 1974 as a steel trading business and went on to boast a turnover of £200m a year before it was sold in 2005 for £115m.