One of the United Kingdom's largest real estate portfolios has sold for $2.12 billion. ING Groep NV, a Dutch financial services company, has bought a portfolio of 128 properties from Abbey National PLC. ING Real Estate, a unit of parent company ING, engineered the deal.
ING claims that the portfolio generates annual rental income of roughly $134.6 million. That represents a narrow profit margin after paying such a steep price for the portfolio. The acquisition cost will reportedly be divided among several ING client funds rather than ING alone.
The combined portfolio consists of 6.6 million sq. ft. of retail, industrial, office and warehouse properties with the bulk of the properties being either retail or industrial. All of the properties are located in the U.K. Abbey National is a London-based bank owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano SA.
