Industry News

Institutional investors acquire Olympia London for £296m

Deutsche Finance International (DFI) and Yoo Capital (YC) have led and advised a joint venture of institutional investors in the acquisition of Olympia London for £269m (€316.9m/$337.7m).

The deal covers the 14-acre freehold site in West London and 3.9 acres of freehold land available for hospitality, leisure and residential development, according to the Exhibitionworld.com website.

The exhibition and events facility welcomes approximately 1.6 million visitors and hosts more than 200 events each year.

The joint venture is said to include Bayerische Versorgungskammer, the largest manager of public pension schemes in Germany, investing through a fund administrated by Universal-Investment; as well as German public insurer the Versicherungskammer Bayern Group; DFI European Value Add Fund; and YC.

Nigel Nathan, managing director of Olympia London, said: “This is an exciting time for our business; much care was taken throughout the sale process to ensure the continuation of Olympia London’s 130-year legacy.

“We look forward to working with our new owners on the next chapter in Olympia London’s rich history.”

Gavin Neilan, co-managing partner of DFI, added: “We see tremendous long-term potential in the 14-acre estate and an opportunity to grow Olympia’s status as a world-class exhibition and events venue working with the existing management team and our partners to enhance the customer experience through expansion of the retail, leisure and hotel offerings.”