Mirax swoops for 50% stake in Beetham £1 billion Blackfriars tower

A giant Russian property group has teamed up with UK developer the Beetham Organization to build a £1bn, mixed-use Blackfriars tower on London’s South Bank.

Mirax, the group led by entrepreneur Sergei Polonsky with a £5bn development programme across the globe, exchanged contracts to buy a 50% stake in the 1 Blackfriars project on Wednesday morning this week.

The deal is a coup for Beetham, whose 33-year-old founder, Stephen Beetham, was named Young Property Personality of the Year at April’s Property Awards.

It is also a stunning feat by 36-year-old Polonsky, who owns 85% of Mirax and whose development portfolio already stretches from Russia to the US, Turkey, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The tie-up is also a huge lift for London real estate and the construction markets, which have suffered a serious slowdown this year.

In addition, it shows how the capital’s economy as a whole is becoming a magnet for cash from fast-emerging economies, such as Russia, India and China.

All parties declined to say how much Mirax had paid for its stake in the project, but market sources said it was £100m. The Beetham Organization only bought the site, formerly Sainsbury’s headquarters, for £56m in 2006.

Polonsky told Property Week: ‘As an international real estate group we love London. We believe it is the centre of the world. It is a city that has been on our radar for some time and we are delighted with this deal.

‘Not only that, but we believe that business deals like this can help to Foster closer relationships between nations such as Russia and the UK as a whole.’

Stephen Beetham said: ‘We were looking for a partner because this is a billion-pound development. The previous largest development we had completed was our Manchester tower worth £125m but, although this is the same height, construction costs and values in London are so much more.

‘Because of that we decided to find a partner and, as soon as I met Sergei, I knew we had so much in common. Beetham has never sold a project ahead of completion and Mirax have given us the same guarantee here.’

This article was published under the headline ‘Black Russian’ in the property week magazine by Laura Chesters

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