British Airways Pension Trustees Limited has purchased The Ugly Brown Building from high street fashion retailer Ted Baker for £78.75m.

British Airways Pension Trustees, which holds the assets of the Airways Pension Scheme and the New Airways Pension Scheme, acquired the building through the purchase of Ted Baker subsidiary, Big Lobster Limited.

The property had been purchased by Ted Baker for £55.25m in December 2015 and is the retailer’s registered head office.

Ted Baker will continue to use the building as its base of operations, having entered into a short-term lease for the period following completion, which remains subject to shareholder approval.

At completion, which is expected to take place in June, the high street chain will enter into an option with British Airways Pension Trustees to take a long-term lease of part of the adjacent newly developed property, to be known as Bowline, Tribeca, St Pancras Way.

The consideration of £78.75m represents a premium of approximately 39.1 per cent to the last published book value of the property as at 26 January 2019 of £56.6m.

Ted Baker acting CEO, Rachel Osborne, said: "The sale and leaseback of the Ugly Brown Building and future relocation of our head office are significant developments resulting from the broad asset review we have undertaken in recent months.

“This transaction and the agreed additional financing provides further headroom and flexibility, which will support the delivery of our transformation strategy.”

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