Hong Kong-based investor CC Land is buying the City of London’s tallest office tower for £1.15bn (€1.34bn).
The 610,000sqft Leadenhall Building is being sold by UK listed company British Land and Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
British Land, which developed the building, nicknamed The Cheesegrater, in joint venture with Oxford Properties, confirmed today that contracts had been exchanged.
Construction started in early-2011 and was completed in the summer of 2014. The building is fully let to businesses including insurers Aon and MS Amlin, and the building’s architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
The building was last valued on 30 September 2016 at £915m.
The deal comes soon after CC Land, a company owned by Chinese property magnate Cheung Chung-kiu, bought another London office, One Kingdom Street, for £292m.
Oxford Properties also recently sold its 50% stake in Paternoster Square office buildings in London for £200m.
Earlier this year, Paul Brundage, executive vice president and senior managing director for Europe at Oxford Properties, said OMERS had made a long-term commitment to make the UK its biggest market for private investments outside North America.
In a statement today, he said: “The Leadenhall Building has been a cornerstone of our London business and has propelled Oxford Properties to a leading position in European real estate development and investment.
“We are fully committed to the UK and Europe for the long term and are looking forward to pursuing further investment opportunities going forward either on our own or with like-minded partners such as British Land.”
Oxford Properties is the second large Canadian pension fund to tell IPE Real Estate it remains committed to the UK real estate market despite uncertainty surrounding the UK’s planned departure from the EU.
Last year, Andrea Orlandi, head of real estate investments for Europe at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said “the UK is – and continues to be – our core market in Europe”.
Tim Roberts, head of offices and residential at British Land, said: “British Land and Oxford Properties took a bold step at the early stages of the UK’s economic recovery to develop The Leadenhall Building to generate a high quality, long-term income stream. It’s a decision which has really paid off.
“Through a strong, collaborative partnership, we have delivered an iconic, award-winning building let to high calibre occupiers at record City rents. This sale shows continued investor appetite for best-in-class, well located property in London.”
