£1bn Docklands tower to be sold
The owners of the Citigroup tower in London’s Docklands are to put the building up for sale with a price tag of more than £1bn, according to the Financial Times. The proceeds will be used to pay back the debt used by Glenn Maud and Derek Quinlan to buy the tower during the property boom. Mr Maud’s PropInvest company and Quinlan Private bought the 1.2m sq ft building in 2007 in one of the largest ever property deals in the UK.
The FT says Jones Lang LaSalle has been advising the owners of the 45-storey tower since the summer. Marketing is expected to start in the next few days.
The paper notes that this is the latest in a string of property sales instigated by banks that are seeking to reduce their exposure to the overleveraged property deals made during the height of the previous boom – the value of some buildings has fallen to below the level of the debt involved in the transaction. It is thought that bids will have to come in above £1bn in order for the banks to avoid making a loss, but a refinancing might be possible if the offers fail to reach the required level, the paper says. Sovereign wealth funds are expected to be among the interested parties, as demand for prime office property in London remains very strong.
