Some of the most significant offices in London are set to be disposed of as part of a major sell-off of commercial assets by a German fund.
KanAm Grund's fund is required to make the sales in order to accept withdrawals again next May after being frozen earlier this year, Bloomberg reports.
Four buildings containing
London offices are to be put on the market by the company as a result, including One Exchange Square on the Broadgate Estate in the City of London - which is currently leased to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - and 30 South Colonnade in Canary Wharf, which serves as the headquarters for news agency Reuters.
The other properties set to be disposed of are 90 High Holborn, which contains over 17,000 sq m of office space, and Winchester House on London Wall/Broad Street, which has over 29,000 sq m of usable space and is situated close to the London Stock Exchange.
KanAm Grund has owned Winchester House since 2003, 90 High Holborn and 30 South Colonnade since 2005, and One Exchange Square since 2007.
The company's own figures suggest its portfolio of
London offices is worth in the region of €1.2 billion (£1 billion). The four buildings provide 110,309 sq m of space in total and were 100 per cent let as of December 2010.
It said in a statement: "The coming weeks and months will be dominated by liquidity-generating activities, which necessitate the sale of properties."
Buyers from continental Europe may be attracted to the offices being sold by KanAm Grund.
Richard Kauntze, chief executive of the British Council for Offices, recently noted that investors from Italy, Spain and Greece in particular are buying more offices in the UK capital as it is seen as something of a "safe haven" as the eurozone continues to experience economic turmoil.
Posted by John Evans
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