Commercial investment company the Golfrate Group has bought the freehold interest in the London Trocadero Centre and the London Pavilion on Piccadilly Circus from the Burford property group – which is owned by Lehman Brothers – for £220m.

The combined floor area of the Trocadero and Pavilion is approximately 600,000sq ft (55,700sq m) and covers a sub basement, basement, ground floor and a total of nine upper floors.

Principal tenants in the property include HMV, The Rainforest Café, a UGC cinema and the Golden Nugget Casino.

To acquire the site, Golfrate beat off competition from a number of companies, including bids headed by Robert Tchenguiz and Nicola Horlick.

Plans for the site include developing the vacant upper floors into a hotel and extending the existing casino. It is understood that event company Number One Venture’s plans to turn the London Pavilion into a £5m events venue remain unaffected by the sale.

Golfrate’s London portfolio was valued at around £1bn before its latest acquisition and includes blocks in Park Lane and the Strand, parts of Tooting and the Scotch House block in Knightsbridge.