Mitsubishi Estate Co. sells London property for £140 million

LONDON (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Estate Co has sold one of its London office and retail properties for 140 million pounds to unlock funds for a new development drive in the UK capital, the company said Friday.

Mitsubishi Estate Co, joint developer and owner of Bow Bells House with Mitsubishi Corporation, has sold the 165,000-square-foot City of London property to an overseas private investor client of Constanti Real Estate and Gresham Down.

The building was completed in December 2007 and the office space is 100 percent let to the Bank of Ireland and Aberdeen Asset Management.

"This opportunistic realisation of value was taken to enable us to undertake further UK development. We are currently looking across the City and West End for development opportunities of a similar size and quality to our Central Saint Giles scheme in Covent Garden," Mitsubishi Estate Co UK managing director Masami Amano said.

"Mitsubishi Estate Company is a committed long-term UK investor," Amano added.

Mitsubishi Estate Co is one of Japan's largest property development and investment companies and holds a substantial commercial and residential portfolio, comprising more than 30 buildings in Tokyo's central business district of Marunouchi.

It is best known in the United Kingdom for its redevelopment of Paternoster Square close to St. Paul's Cathedral in the heart of the City of London.

In partnership with Legal & General, Mitsubishi Estate Company has just completed a 500,000-square-foot mixed commercial development project at Central Saint Giles near London's popular Covent Garden district.

In the United States, Mitsubishi Estate Company owns the Rockefeller Group Inc, the commercial real estate and property services company that developed the landmark Rockefeller Centre.

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise; editing by Karen Foster)