Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and North American investor Brookfield Property Partners have won the long-running battle for control of the 730,000 m2 Canary Wharf office estate in London for £2.6 bn (€3.5 bn).
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and North American investor Brookfield Property Partners have won the long-running battle for control of the 730,000 m2 Canary Wharf office estate in London for £2.6 bn (€3.5 bn).
The breakthrough came on Wednesday as the board of Songbird Estates, the listed majority owner of Canary Wharf, announced that Songbird's largest shareholders had thrown their weight behind the offer.
The three who are accepting the offer are China Investment Corporation, which owns almost 16% of Songbird; Morgan Stanley which holds 8.5% and the US Glick family, the owner of just under 26%.
QIA already controls almost 29% of Songbird but needed to obtain the backing of over 50% of the rest of the shares to win. Another shareholder, Franklin Investors, had already pledged the backing of its 7% holding to the bid.
In a statement, Songbord's board said that the QIA/Brookfield bid had the support of 85.6% of the shareholders and therefore recommended that the remaining shareholders also accept the offer. However, the board added that it 'continues to believe that the offer does not reflect the full value of the business'.
Shareholders have until 1pm UK time on Thursday to accept the offer.