QIA Is Said to Plan Sale of Credit Suisse's Canary Wharf Office

(Bloomberg) -- The Qatar Investment Authority plans to sell an office building in London’s Canary Wharf financial district which is leased to Credit Suisse Group AG, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Gulf state’s sovereign-wealth fund appointed brokers CBRE Group Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. to offer the building for about 450 million pounds ($610 million), the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A spokesman for QIA declined to comment on the plan, which CoStar News reported earlier Thursday.

A raft of major London office buildings are being readied for sale as landlords seek to cash in on the willingness of overseas investors to pay record prices following the drop in the pound. Blackstone Group LP, Heron International Ltd., and British Land Co. are all considering selling buildings in the U.K. capital, hoping to replicate the high prices paid for sites such as the so-called Walkie Talkie and Cheesegrater towers.

QIA initially offered the building for sale last year as it sought to diversify its portfolio and boost assets in Asia and the U.S. That plan was put on hold in June 2016.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at ncallanan@bloomberg.net, Paul Armstrong, Jon Menon