Pinnacle majority shareholder SEDCO is investigating a sale of its 90% stake in the 64-storey City skyscraper.
SEDCO is exploring options that will enable it to kickstart construction on the £1bn project, where tools were downed last month with just seven floors built.
One option is the sale of part of its stake in the Pinnacle No. 1 holding company.
A source said: “It has always been part of the plan to raise further equity by whatever route can be devised.
“Investors have been approached for some time, but other options are now being looked at. The smart suggestion is to sell some of the majority stake.”
The 60 investors behind SEDCO, led by Pramerica and the Saudi Economic and Development Company, have injected around £420m into the 945ft scheme since Arab Investments took over the site in 2007.
The shortfall of more than £500m was to be met by a mixture of bank debt from HSBC and other lenders and by additional equity from Arab Investments.
The £140m HSH Nordbank loan, which was used to buy the site in 2007, matured at the end of November, and long-running efforts by Arab Investments and HSBC to pull together a group of funders have yet to produce a deal.
Development manager Arab Investments has said that a major pre-let is required to secure development finance, but that a lack of occupier confidence in central London has meant it has struggled to land a sizeable tenant.
Completion of the 1m sq ft Pinnacle project has been pushed back two years to 2015 at the earliest.
SEDCO declined to comment.
