Big London tower for sale at $2b

The 42-storey Canary Wharf tower. Photo / Wikimedia/Kurkoe

The 42-storey Canary Wharf tower that houses the European headquarters of Citigroup is being put up for sale for more than £1 billion ($2 billion), the commercial property agents Jones Lang LaSalle said yesterday.

The skyscraper at 25 Canada Square is the third tallest building in Britain, and was the UK's second-largest property transaction when Glenn Maud and Derek Quinlan bought it for £1 billion at the height of the property boom in 2007.

The selling agents yesterday stressed the "exceptionally long income" secured by a rental agreement with another 24 years to run and a current annual income of £58 million a year set to rise in 2015 and annually thereafter.

Prospective purchasers can expect an annual income of nearly £70 million within 10 years and more than £100 million within two decades, according to JLL.

If the Canada Square deal tops £1.09 billion, it will knock HSBC's Docklands headquarters off the top spot in the league of the UK's biggest property deals.

Interest is expected from UK real estate investment trusts, insurers and pension funds, as well as the overseas investors who continue to show a marked appetite for London commercial property. The market has bounced back handsomely since the recession.

- INDEPENDENT