SOLD: International Finance Centre goes for £43.7m

Monday 26 November 2018

The first of the International Finance Centre buildings has been sold for £43.7million, generating profits of £10.9million.

States-backed Jersey Development Company (JDC), who were responsible for the build, officially sold the 69,405sqft IFC1, which now has six tenants, on Friday.

They said the hotly anticipated sale had generated more profit than initially expected, with original net return projections sitting at around £7.5million.

Speculation about when – and indeed if – the Esplanade-based finance building would sell had been heating up since autumn last year.

 Pictured: JDC Managing Director Lee Henry.

In September 2017, former Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean stated that JDC was likely to see in the New Year with a sale, but this didn’t come to pass.

In July, Phil Dawes, Managing Director of D2 Real Estate, sales agent for IFC1, said that the office block had attracted seven bids in total, with a deal close to being done. 

On Friday – four months later – IFC1 was finally sold to Klesch Family Office under the guidance of Carey Olsen, who acted as legal advisors to JDC. Ogier advised the buyers. 

The Jersey Companies Registry lists nine results under ‘Klesch’ - all of which are registered in Broad Street and some of which are linked with companies run by Anglo-American entrepreneur A. Gary Klesch. The business tycoon’s investment interests mostly lie in metals, mining, chemicals and power generation.

The IFC1 build had come under intense scrutiny after it emerged that construction had begun when less than a quarter of its rental space had been let, rather than all of it as previously suggested.

Pictured: The second IFC building with its latest tenants, the Big Maggy's team.

Packages of incentives have been offered to companies to encourage them to move into the facility, with JDC having spent more than three quarters of a million on moving into UBS’s former offices in a bid to secure a lease with the Swiss bank.

Then it emerged that the JDC had extended a £2.5million loan with HSBC because they were concerned about selling IFC1 before it had been filled.

The second building – IFC5 – remains to be sold. 

Last week, however, it did welcome its newest tenants - bicycle and coffee blend ‘Big Maggy’s’ - into its ground floor retail space. 

The majority of the build is taken up by Sanne, who moved there in the summer.

JDC Managing Director Lee Henry said that there had been “significant interest” from potential purchasers leading up to the recent sale “as a result of the quality of the covenants of occupiers, the level of unexpired lease term and the quality of the building in terms of design, flexibility and specification.” 

He added: “We are delighted with the successful sale and the continued confidence of the market generally both in terms of occupier commitment and end investors.”