Segro, the former Slough Estates, has traditionally monitored the balance between UK and mainland European assets to benefit from different real estate and economic cycles. The Brixton acquisition has boosted its portfolio but also tilted it heavily toward the UK.

"On Dec. 31, 2008 our portfolio was by space almost exactly 50-50 Europe and UK," Coull says. "As a result of the Brixton acquisition it is now 72-28 in favor of the UK. But I never set out a target breakdown between the two. We got to 50-50 because we were investing more in Europe in the two years leading up to the end of '08 than we were in the UK, simply investing where we thought we were going to get the best returns. So looking forward I'm not saying we're going to get back to 50-50 this year, next year or the year after. We may well do, but it will be because we have invested our capital in the right place."

With an asset portfolio of $8.1 billion, Segro provides flexible business space across Europe - offices, light industrial, logistics, warehouses and datacentre properties. For 2009, it reported net rental income up 10% at $413 million and adjusted pre-tax profit up 16.8% at $160 million, reflecting inclusion of Brixton results for the last four months. "Brixton was a fantastic opportunity for us and was one that at the beginning of 2009 we couldn't have anticipated," Coull says. "It had always been fully valued and had a high market cap relative to the size of its assets but it got into so much financial distress leading up to and then in the first few months of last year."