HSBC has confirmed it is seeking buyers for three of its European headquarters including the Canary Wharf offices it bought for £838m in December of last year.
Following last week’s £12.5bn rights issue – the largest in the
HSBC bought the tower back from Spanish property company Metrovacesa in December for £838m – almost £300m less than it sold it for 18 months previously.
At the time HSBC said it had no plans to sell the 45-storey tower until the market recovered, but has since seen high levels of interest in the building, including an all-cash offer from a Middle Eastern investor.
HSBC’s sales drive comes as it seeks to strengthen its tier one capital ratio with the aim of increasing lending in emerging markets where many western banks are being forced by their respective government shareholders to scale down operations.
CB Richard Ellis is advising HSBC.
