British American Tobacco is exploring a sale and leaseback of its London head office at Globe House, 4 Temple Place, WC2.
The company did not confirm details of the mooted sale, but market sources said it is looking for more than £250m for the property, which it would leaseback for 10 years with a break option at five years.
The firm has occupied the 172,019 sq ft building since 1998, preletting it from then-owner Hammerson during refurbishment. It acquired the freehold in 2012 for around £200m from CGI Haus Invest, according to Radius Data Exchange.
A BAT spokesperson said: “We are continually striving to become a stronger, simpler and faster organisation. As part of this journey, we are always exploring ways to best leverage our assets, including the possible option of a sale and subsequent leaseback of our Globe House head office in London.”
He added that discussions are at a “very early stage” and “irrespective of the outcome [we] have no current plans to move our head office out of Globe House”.
BAT has five global cigarette brands – Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans – as well as three non-cigarette brands including Vuse, under which it has its vapour products. In its latest half-year results the London-listed company reported an 18.6% year-on-year rise in pre-tax profit to £4.59bn, while total revenue nudged up 0.8% to £12.27bn.
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