London-based Grosvenor Fund Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, headquartered in Toronto, have entered into a joint venture to invest up to $310 million in London’s West End office market over the next two years.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will invest $295 million in the joint venture and Grosvenor Fund Management will contribute $15.5 million.

The partnership plans to acquire depreciated office properties in the West End and Midtown that can be refurbished to a Class-A standard, a so-called value-add approach. The joint venture is targeting individual properties worth up to $155 million.

Graeme Eadie, senior vice president of real estate investments at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, says the joint venture provides the institutional giant with an entry point into an attractive, niche commercial real estate market in West End London.

“This investment aligns with our existing European real estate investment strategy and introduces us to a well-respected partner with unique knowledge of the West End office market and access to local stakeholders,” says Eadie.

As of Dec. 31, 2010, Grosvenor’s funds under management totaled $6 billion with 70 investor partners in 24 funds and separate accounts. The Grosvenor London Office Fund currently owns four prime West End office properties.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which pays current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries, invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed-income instruments.