The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is selling an office asset portfolio based in Western Canada to Oxford Properties, the global real estate arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System.
The deal will see it transfer a 50 per cent interest in the portfolio, which includes seven downtown office properties in Calgary and Vancouver, for $730 million. Following the acquisition, Oxford will own 100 per cent of the approximately $1.5 billion portfolio.
“The transaction is a continuation of our real estate strategy to secure strong business plan execution and redeploy capital into new opportunities, supporting the continued growth and performance optimization of our global real estate portfolio,” said Sophie van Oosterom, managing director and head of real estate at the CPPIB, in a press release.
The CPPIB is also selling its stake in Encino Acquisition Partners LLC to EOG Resources Inc. for US$5.6 billion including net debt held by the firm. The firm was established by the investment organization in 2017 with the intention to become a go-to acquisition operation for U.S.-based oil and gas assets.
In other news, the CPPIB is exiting its investment in artificial intelligence firm Informatica in support of a US$8 billion acquisition proposal from Salesforce Inc. According to a press release, the planned acquisition is expected to generate $3.7 billion of net proceeds for the CPPIB.
“We are pleased with the outcome of this transaction, which is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovation of the Informatica team over the last decade,” said Sam Blaichman, managing director and head of direct private equity at the investment organization, in the release.
Read: CPPIB sells private equity fund interest portfolio, BCI joins group investing in insurance firm
In other news, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board completed the sale of an office real estate asset located in London alongside its partner Aviva Investors.
The asset was sold to a joint venture formed between U.K.-based real estate asset management firm Delancey and Australia’s superannuation fund Aware Super. The financial details of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
“This transaction highlights the strong investor demand for high-quality assets in strategic locations in London given the structural supply and demand imbalance, cutting through a challenging market environment,” said Stéphane Jalbert, managing director of real estate investments and head of Europe and Asia Pacific at PSP Investments.
Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate group of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, completed a redevelopment office building project in London. The project was completed alongside PIMCO Prime Real Estate.
The financial details of the redevelopment weren’t disclosed. The 240,000 square feet office space is 93 per cent leased to law firm Travers Smith and travel platform company Trainline. The redevelopment increased amenities and reduced the overall carbon footprint of the building, said Christina Forrest, managing director of European real estate at the Caisse, in a release.
“The completion of Stonecutter and the decision by our tenants to partner with us underscore the fact that high-quality workspaces with exemplary sustainable credentials are what companies are looking for in today’s evolving office landscape.”