Walkie Talkie sold for £1.3bn

The Walkie Talkie building in the City of London has been sold to Hong Kong investors for £1.3bn.

The scheme (pictured), which was built by Canary Wharf Contractors and won the 2015 Carbuncle Cup run by Building’s sister title BD, has been sold to Hong Kong giant Lee Kum Kee in the UK’s biggest ever deal for a single office building.

The price for the 37-storey tower, designed by Rafael Vinoly, tops the £1.15bn sale paid by Chinese investors for the Cheesegrater skyscraper in Leadenhall earlier this year.

Half of the Walkie Talkie building, whose official address is 20 Fenchurch Street, was owned by property developer Landsec – the new name for Land Securities – with the other half held by a group of investors.

Landsec chief executive Rob Noel said the firm will hand £475m of the expected £634.5m of proceeds of the sale to shareholders in the autumn.

Noel said it had got an “an exceptional price” for the sale, adding that it cost £473m to build when it was completed in 2014.

James Beckham of Cushman & Wakefield, which advised on the deal, said: “This record-breaking deal demonstrates the enormous investor appetite in London, and in the City’s reputation as the global place to do business.

“Since the vote to leave the EU, capital targeting London from the Asia-Pacific region has increased to record levels. This is partly due to currency fluctuations but is more indicative of longer-term confidence in London and investment strategies which are not derailed by short-term political uncertainty.”

The deal is expected to be wrapped up at the end of next month.