Whelan: Lebanese investors

Developer Michael Whelan has agreed a deal to sell his Victoria House office block at Bloomsbury Square in London for more than €200m. The building, which was put up for sale through Fergus Murphy of CBRE, is being sold to Lebanese investors, according to reports in Estates Gazette.

Whelan put the building up for sale in November and it drew interest from several investors.

The Lebanese-owned M1 Real Estate beat off competition from three British funds, two German investors, two bidders from the Middle East and one state pension fund from the Far East, the report said.

Irish investors will be net sellers of investment property in Britain this year as they move to take advantage of the surge in prices since the middle of last year. Values in some areas are now back to near where they were at the peak of the market.