HSBC Sells Canary Wharf Office Space
Friday, April 24th, 2009The global banking company, HSBC, intends to raise funds of three billion Euros by selling off three of their largest office buildings. The three buildings include their
The decision was made a few days after a huge rights issue was approved worth an enormous £12.5 billion. The sale process is to be supervised by the real estate organization, CB Richard Ellis with some help for Jones Lang LaSalle. HSBC intends to trade and lease back the properties concerned for a minimum of ten years.
HSBC is surviving the global economic crisis quite well and avoided the need for government aid. With the solution to the rights issue, the banking group is now one of the strongest in its industry and is continuing to prepare for any possible future acquisitions. With current economic conditions, many other commercial office companies are turning more recently to renting desk space rather than buying their own premises. For info on desk hire in
In a relatively good position to take advantage of the new opportunities, HSBC plans to sell a number of its assets that have lost their values during the economic slump.
However, despite the powerful financial position of the bank, there are still concerns regarding its Household division in which keeping going the $100 billion loan portfolio to the
HSBC’s Canary Wharf headquarters were bought only a few months after the bank purchased the premises from Metrovacesa, a failing Spanish property firm that was hit hard during the economic crisis. The profit made by the bank as a result of this sale was around £300 million.
The HSBC Tower is a 100,000 square meter premises and was sold by the bank in the middle of 2007 during the heights of the real estate boom in a £1.1 billion sale and leaseback deal. Unfortunately, for Metrovacesa, the deal proved rather too ambitious and HSBC ended up buying it back for £800 million.
HSBC’s market price was almost thirteen billion pounds lower than the value held on the books of the bank in the fall of 2008. Partly because of this, Moody, the ratings agency, gave a negative outlook for the bank, doubting its way of dealing with the rights issue.