Green Property is to invest £50 million [€63 million] in equity for a 50 per cent stake in a joint venture which is buying a huge range of investment properties in the UK. Green's partner in the joint venture is the Whitehall Fund - the real estate fund managed by Goldman Sachs - and the joint venture is buying a property portfolio from P&O which has a book value of more than £400 million.

Green chief executive, Mr Stephen Vernon, said that a confidentiality clause imposed by P&O meant that he could not disclose the cost of buying the property portfolio. But he added that the properties currently generated a rent roll of more than £40 million sterling [€65 million] with rent review pending.

The P&O property portfolio is split 55 per cent offices, 21 per cent industrial and 24 per cent retail and is concentrated in three main areas - London and the south-east, Birmingham-Manchester and Glasgow.

This is the third time that Green has invested in British property through a joint venture. The other two investments were with GE Capital which was subsequently bought out.

Mr Vernon said Green did not have any options to buy out Goldman Sachs from the new joint venture.

"It will come to an end sometime but how the ownership is resolved remains to be seen," he said.