Aviva Investors purchases BBC Worldwide Headquarters, part of Television Centre

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), has purchased the first refurbished part of the Television Centre development in White City, London - now the new BBC Worldwide HQ. The Aviva Investors Lime Property Fund (“Lime”) has acquired the leasehold from Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan for £67m, representing a net initial yield of 3.75%.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), has purchased the first refurbished part of the Television Centre development in White City, London - now the new BBC Worldwide HQ. The Aviva Investors Lime Property Fund (“Lime”) has acquired the leasehold from Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan for £67m, representing a net initial yield of 3.75%.

BBC Worldwide, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, have agreed a 25 year lease with annual uncapped RPI increases. The property was constructed in 1990 and known as Stage 6, an extension to BBC Television Centre. The building has recently undergone a comprehensive refurbishment, providing office and ancillary accommodation over five floors. The surrounding area in White City is undergoing significant regeneration with retail, office and residential development planned over the coming years.

Lime, launched in July 2004 has over £1.4 billion under management as at April 2015. It is an open-ended fund that generates a secure and consistent income return by investing in assets with a high concentration of rents that are either inflation-linked or that have pre-agreed fixed uplifts.

Renos Booth, manager of the Aviva Investors Lime Property Fund, said: “This is an impressive building with iconic status. It is a great addition to our portfolio and will complement the existing assets as we look to generate a secure and predictable income stream for our investors.

“White City is undergoing significant regeneration with Television Centre as the centre of gravity for that regeneration and the area becoming increasingly attractive to occupiers looking for high quality accommodation in the capital. It has strong transport links into Central London and future rental growth is expected. Today’s acquisition provides the opportunity to capitalise on this emerging growth story whilst still in its infancy, to the benefit of our clients.”

Alistair Shaw, Managing Director of Television Centre, said: “White City is a great place to invest and we are delighted to welcome Aviva Investors as part of the Television Centre redevelopment which has all the components to create a great place.

“The new BBC Worldwide HQ is the first part of that regeneration to be completed and there will be a further 400,000 sq ft of new Grade A office accommodation delivered at Television Centre over the next two years. Demolition is already underway at Television Centre and, with a new Soho House club and hotel and 950 new homes, it will truly be a core driver for the regeneration of the exciting and up and coming White City area, creating thousands of jobs.”

JLL and Pinsent Masons acted for Lime and LSH for the BBC DTZ and Macfarlanes acted for the vendor, Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan in the deal.

The Lime Property Fund was recently awarded the Ten Year Absolute Award at the IPD/IPF Property Investment Awards 2015. The Fund received the award for the highest ten year absolute risk adjusted return, based on the highest ratio of ten year annualised absolute return against standard deviation or relative return.

- Ends -

Notes to editors:

The information and opinions contained in this document are for use by the financial press and media only, and do not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information or opinions contained in this document nor should they be seen as advice. 
The press release is provided on the basis that Aviva Investors Global Services Limited is not causing the communication of a financial promotion under exemption of the Financial Promotion Order, as Aviva Investors Global Services Limited has no control over the way in which an article based on this press release is prepared and published by the financial press and media. 


Except where stated as otherwise, the source of all information is Aviva Investors Global Services Limited (“Aviva Investors”) as at 29 April 2015. The value of an investment and any income from it may go down as well as up and the investor may not get back the original amount invested.

Aviva Investors

Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. The business delivers investment management solutions, services and client-driven performance to clients worldwide. Aviva Investors operates in 15 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the United Kingdom with assets under management of £246 billion as at 31 December 2014.

Aviva plc

  • Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 34* million customers, across 16 markets worldwide
  • In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index.
  • Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £24.6 billion in benefits and claims in 2014.
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* Before the deduction of overlapping customers.
* Figures based on Aviva plc Annual Report and Accounts 2014.

Aviva Investors Global Services Limited
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Ian Lindsley
Jefferson on behalf of Stanhope and Television Centre
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Steve Ainger

Head of Media Relations

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