Leading London office provider Office Space in Town (OSiT) has today announced that it has successfully acquired Brightbay Real Estate Partners' 80% share in their London Serviced Office portfolio. The joint venture between Brightbay (previously RDI REIT P.L.C.) and OSiT was established in 2018. The portfolio is now owned fully by OSiT.
The buyout marks a major milestone for the future trajectory of the business, unleashing OSiT's plans to increase the portfolio value to £500m in the next four years and to £1billion by 2029. OSiT is actively seeking new buildings in prime London locations to purchase to meet rising demand for flexible workspace, as well as partners to support its ambitious growth plans.
The deal follows a period of exponential growth for the sector following the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen demand for flexible office space up 82% on pre-pandemic levels. In fact, as workers return to offices, 41% of occupiers are expected to increase use of flexible workspace as part of a post-COVID work strategy.
In light of this, defining an industry-wide valuation standard for flexible offices remains a major priority for the company in the next six months, with talks ongoing between OSiT and leading academics Professor Neil Dunse and Professor Michael White.
RDI REIT acquired an 80% stake in the portfolio of four central London OSiT assets in 2018 from Forum Partners, Kailong Group and OSiT. The deal marked a continued move by mainstream institutional investors into the flexible office market.
OSiT was advised by lawyers at leading City law firm RPC, led by Tom Purton.
