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Korea’s pension fund to sell HSBC’s global headquarters to QIA

Korea’s pension fund to sell HSBC’s global headquarters to QIA

Posted October. 29, 2014 05:30,   

한국어

Qatar`s sovereign wealth fund has agreed to buy HSBC`s global headquarters in London from Korea’s National Pension Service, the Financial Times said on Monday. The Qatar Investment Authority will pay around 1.1 billion pounds (1.86 trillion won) to the Korean pension fund for the building, the highest price for a building in the U.K.

The 44-story building built in 2002 is located in Canary Wharf. It was designed by Foster + Partners, an architecture firm founded by renowned British architect Norman Foster. Spanish property company Metrovacesa bought the building for 1.09 billion pounds in 2006, and two years later HSBC had to take back ownership in-house after Metrovacesa fell into financial difficulties in the 2008 global financial crisis.

In November 2009, the Korean pension fund NPS bought the building at nearly 772.5 million pounds to diversify its investment portfolio. If it sells the building as scheduled, it will gain 327.5 million pounds (55.38 million won) in nearly five years.

The Financial Times said, “It is a sign that the global financial capital`s commercial property market is booming once more.” A source from Korea’s NPS said on Tuesday, “We cannot say anything because the main contract is not signed yet.” The Qatar Investment Authority declined to comment, the newspaper said.