Latest news with #Norges
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Norway Mega Fund Has Gone On Billion Dollar London Shopping Spree
Norway's huge soveriegn wealth fund has acquired a 25% stake in London's Covent Garden. Not since the Vikings has Norway embarked on quite the scale of U.K. invasion going on across London's West End right now. Wielding the kind of thunderous financial power that would make even Thor feel inadequate rather than an axe this time round, the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, fuelled by decades of huge oil and gas profits from Norway' North Sea fields, has made yet another foray into prime London retail real estate. The country's investment vehicle last week agreed a circa $735 million deal to buy a quarter of the famous Covent Garden estate, a former fruit and vegetables market long since transformed into an attractive piazza of top retail, drinking, dining and entertainment that serves as of one London's most popular destinations. The estate includes more than 220 stores set within the city's theatre heartland and famous destinations such as the Royal Opera House and London Transport Museum. In the deal, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages $1.8 trillion globally on behalf of the Norwegian government, has bought the 25% stake in the $3.5 billion Covent Garden real estate portfolio of London-based landlord Shaftesbury Capital. But this is not NBIM's first rodeo. The deal comes just two months after Norges snapped up a $395 million stake in London's Mayfair district from Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's real estate company, encompassing everything from retail and F&B to swish offices. In all, it brings the Norwegian fund's investment in the U.K. capital city to $1.13 billion when combined with its long-term stake in Regent Street, jointly owned with the property arm of the U.K. Royal Family, The Crown Estate. The latter ownership has proven a huge success as the partners have used their near complete control of the retail zone to curate an offer of international names from athleisure to homewares, plus a smattering of luxury. The fund is also a shareholder in Covent Garden owner Shaftesbury, holding a 25% in the company. Similarly, Shaftesbury has control of how it manages Covent Garden while Grosvenor wields huge influence across its estate of upscale Mayfair addresses, meaning NBIM is buying into areas where it can manage future trends rather than simply react to them. Oxford Circus will be home to a new IKEA from May on the former site of Topshop's former flagship. Beyond London, Norges also became the sole owner of the enormous regional mall Meadowhall on the outskirts of northern city Sheffield last year, after striking a circa $465 million deal with co-owner British Land. Combined, Norges now owns $1.6 billion of prime U.K. retail real estate, with most of that built in less than 12 months. Who said shopping centers were dead? On the new Covent Garden stake, the head of NBIM's UK real estate arm, Jayesh Patel, said the investment 'underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments', as he described Covent Garden as "one of the world's most recognized retail, leisure and cultural destinations'. Covent Garden was among the prime central London areas that drew in big crowds during the Christmas holiday season – many of them U.S. travelers making the most of the strong dollar – helping Shaftesbury record its busiest ever holiday shopping period with more than 1 million visitors a day to its portfolio, which spreads from Covent Garden to the adjacent Chinatown and Soho districts. It is also a far cry from the bleak days post-pandemic days when London's West End, most notably Oxford Street, faced a huge crisis as visitor numbers plummeted and Oxford Street became overrun with American Candy stores. Local government and landlords have spent much of the past five years unwinding that toxic legacy, largely returning Oxford Street to a major destination for international flagships, the latest of which will be an IKEA store at the famous crossroads between Oxford Street and Regent Street, slated to open in May on the site of the former Topshop flagship. In the meantime, Norway, which sends the traditional Christmas tree that illuminates Trafalgar Square annually, has never had such a strong hold on the future of the capital.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The country about to own swathes of Covent Garden
Norway has bought a £570m slice of London's Covent Garden after reaping bumper oil profits following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Norges Bank, the state-owned fund that manages the country's oil wealth, has bought a 25pc stake in the central London estate from owner Shaftesbury Capital. The sovereign wealth fund has been ploughing cash into London property in recent months after taking in a huge windfall from surging oil and gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In January, Norway bought a £306m stake in Mayfair from Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's property arm. Its national oil fund has also amassed a 68pc holding in the Pollen Estate in Mayfair, which includes most of Savile Row. Jayesh Patel, head of UK real estate at Norges, said: 'This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments. 'Covent Garden is one of the world's most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations.' Norges manages the country's vast North Sea oil and gas wealth. The sovereign wealth fund is the world's biggest, with its total investments worth nearly 20 trillion Norwegian kroner (£1.4 trillion). The fund was buoyed by surging oil and gas prices following the invasion of Ukraine. Norway sold more than €108bn (£90bn) of fuel to Europe in 2022 and 2023, according to government data. Norges posted record annual profit of 2.5 trillion kroner for 2024 – though the fund said this was mostly driven by a rally in US tech stocks, Norway has faced pressure to use this vast resource to boost aid to Ukraine, amid accusations from critics that it is profiteering from the Russia-Ukraine war. However, Norway has pushed back against those accusations. Eivind Vad Petersson, its deputy foreign minister, argued in January that higher prices were a natural outcome of market forces during the period. Norway already owns swathes of the West End, including a 25pc stake in Regent Street, and already held almost a quarter of shares in Shafesbury itself, which also owns stretches of Carnaby Street, Soho and Chinatown alongside Covent Garden. Norges also owns the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield. It has some 363.6bn kroner invested in property across 14 countries. Shaftesbury will continue to manage the Covent Garden estate, which spans around 1.4m sq ft and 220 buildings. The landlord will use the cash from the Norges deal to partially repay a loan and £275m of exchangeable bonds. Shares in Shaftesbury rose more than 5pc on news of the deal. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
20-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
The country about to own swathes of Covent Garden
Norway has bought a £570m slice of London's Covent Garden after reaping bumper oil profits following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Norges Bank, the state-owned fund that manages the country's oil wealth, has bought a 25pc stake in the central London estate from owner Shaftesbury Capital. The sovereign wealth fund has been ploughing cash into London property in recent months after taking in a huge windfall from surging oil and gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In January, Norway bought a £306m stake in Mayfair from Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's property arm. Its national oil fund has also amassed a 68pc holding in the Pollen Estate in Mayfair, which includes most of Savile Row. Jayesh Patel, head of UK real estate at Norges, said: 'This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments. 'Covent Garden is one of the world's most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations.' Norges manages the country's vast North Sea oil and gas wealth. The sovereign wealth fund is the world's biggest, with its total investments worth nearly 20 trillion Norwegian kroner (£1.4 trillion). The fund was buoyed by surging oil and gas prices following the invasion of Ukraine. Norway sold more than €108bn (£90bn) of fuel to Europe in 2022 and 2023, according to government data. Norges posted record annual profit of 2.5 trillion kroner for 2024 – though the fund said this was mostly driven by a rally in US tech stocks, Norway has faced pressure to use this vast resource to boost aid to Ukraine, amid accusations from critics that it is profiteering from the Russia-Ukraine war. However, Norway has pushed back against those accusations. Eivind Vad Petersson, its deputy foreign minister, argued in January that higher prices were a natural outcome of market forces during the period. Norway already owns swathes of the West End, including a 25pc stake in Regent Street, and already held almost a quarter of shares in Shafesbury itself, which also owns stretches of Carnaby Street, Soho and Chinatown alongside Covent Garden. Norges also owns the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield. It has some 363.6bn kroner invested in property across 14 countries. Shaftesbury will continue to manage the Covent Garden estate, which spans around 1.4m sq ft and 220 buildings. The landlord will use the cash from the Norges deal to partially repay a loan and £275m of exchangeable bonds.
