Savills has advised Daibiru, a subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines, on the purchase of Capital House in the City of London for £169 million from Barings. The deal is Savills second transaction to a Japanese investor in the City of London this year, following the sale of a 20% stake in 21 Moorfields, EC2 to Sotetsu Urban Creates and Yasuda Real Estate in March 2025.
Located on King William Street, Capital House comprises 121,489 sq ft of offices arranged over eight upper floors, anchored by primary tenant Rothschild, with retail at ground and lower ground floors occupied by Pret A Manger and Sainsbury’s.
Stephen Down, Chairman of Savills Central London Investment, comments: “This is a landmark deal for a major Japanese institution, and is the second transaction with a Japanese investor for Savills this year, representing our long-term commitment to building strong relationships in Japan.
“There is much speculation on the supposed resurgence of global real estate investment from Japan, but compared to the boom period of the late 1980s I expect this to be a steady flow rather than a torrent, with a wider sector spread of offices, logistics and living. It is a strategic diversification of funds, targeting relatively limited geographies that are recovering from the market corrections over the past two years, and where long-term returns are higher than in the Japanese domestic market.”
Barings had acquired the building from DWS for £130.5 million in 2021, undertaking a significant refurbishment programme in the interim and were advised by RX on the sale to Daibiru.