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File photo of 3 Minster Court in London. Ivanhoe Cambridge announced acquisition of the building in March, 2015.Hand-out

Canadian real estate colossus Ivanhoé Cambridge is buying a high-profile office building in London's historic banking district, its third office acquisition in six months in the heart of England's capital.

Sources confirm that Ivanhoé is set to announce the purchase of 21 Lombard Street with U.K.-based Greycoat, a niche property company specializing in commercial real estate investment and management in central London. The purchase price is believed to be in the range of 125-million pounds ($230-million), reflecting a net initial yield of about 4.9 per cent.

Ivanhoé has been hunting for top-grade real estate in 15 of the world's biggest cities as it shuffles its asset portfolio out of hotels and secondary markets to focus on office buildings, shopping centres and multiresidential complexes. The company, the property unit of pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, last year bought $5.1-billion worth of real estate while selling $8.6-billion.

London has been of particular interest of late to Ivanhoé as it seeks to expand its commercial office portfolio internationally and build a critical mass of quality assets in the city. Only one quarter of its office assets were located outside Canada and the United States at the end of 2013.

The 115,955 square foot Lombard St. property, built in 2000, is owned by a private investor and rented to Swiss bank UBS under long-term lease. Lombard Street itself, sometimes compared to Wall Street, has historically been the London home for many major lenders. Barclays was located at Number 54 before it moved to Canary Wharf. Trustee Savings Bank was there too. The Bank of England is currently located about 100 metres away from Number 21.

Ivanhoe's purchase comes on the heels of two other significant office transactions in London in the past half year. In March, Ivanhoé announced the acquisition of 3 Minster Court, a 275,000 square-foot neo-gothic property leased to London Underwriting Center. In December, the company said it bought Stonecutter Court, a 150,000 square-foot property in the city whose largest tenant is Deloitte.

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