Singapore's GIC buys Blackstone out of Broadgate deal

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC was named as British Land's new partner in London's Broadgate office and retail complex on Tuesday, buying out U.S. private equity group Blackstone for around 1.7 billion pounds ($2.8 billion).

British Land, Britain's second-largest listed developer after Land Securities, and Blackstone had owned equal shares of the Broadgate estate, a 30-acre site in London's City financial district whose tenants include Swiss bank UBS .

Reuters reported in August that Blackstone was planning to sell its stake for more than 1.7 billion pounds to a sovereign wealth fund and a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday the deal had been agreed at around that price.

British Land said through its new joint venture with GIC, it expected to broaden the site's appeal from a purely City-focused financial base to cater for those companies setting up in the creative and tech sectors which have traditionally been based in east London.

Broadgate is a fully-managed estate based around London Liverpool Street train station. The estate now includes 16 separate buildings.

"We see a significant opportunity to move Broadgate from a more traditional City-oriented office estate into a vibrant mixed-used campus serving not just the City but also the emerging districts to the north and east of the City," said Tim Roberts, Head of Offices at British Land.