Instrumental Pointer

The Canary Wharf office, which has been the headquarters of HSBC since 2002, has changed owners once more. The earlier deal had involved a Spanish company, to which HSBC had sold the building in 2007.

After the Spanish group Metrovacesa failed to meet the terms of the £1b deal, HSBC purchased the building back from them in 2008. It has now been sold to a South Korean investment fund for a sum of £772.5m. This is the third time the building has changed hands in three years.

The new owner is the Korean National Pension Service, which has been interested in the building since September and has made overtures towards buying it from HSBC. National Pension Service’s portfolio value has been boosted by about 900% following the acquisition of this asset.

The deal agreed to now is a leaseback sale under the conditions of which HSBC will continue to reside here by paying an annual rent of £45m for a 17-year tenancy period. The £350m gain from the deal will be evident in HSBC’s record sheet by the end of 2009. As HSBC has a huge clientele in London, the sale of their main office gave rise to some apprehensions. However, company sources have assured that the bank will continue to operate from the premises.

HSBC is one of the first few groups to undertake leaseback deals. More activity is expected in the UK

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 4:21 am and is filed under Marketing, Promotion, Real Estate Infos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.