Qatar Investment Authority in talks to inject HSBC HQ into CDL Reit
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Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is in talks to inject HSBC Holdings' London headquarters building into a planned real estate investment trust (Reit) to be listed by City Developments (CDL), people with knowledge of the matter said.
The potential deal would boost the value of the Reit's portfolio to £1.8 billion (S$3.4 billion) from £600 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
The Gulf sovereign wealth fund and the Singapore developer aim to raise £500 million from an initial public offering (IPO) of the sterling-denominated Reit with British commercial properties, the people said. The IPO could take place in Singapore as soon as the third quarter, they said.
Deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty that a deal will proceed, said the people. A representative for CDL declined to comment, and a representative for QIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The IPO denominated in sterling would be only the second such offering in Singapore, after Elite Commercial Reit's first-time share sale raised £135.4 million last year. CDL has been working with DBS Group Holdings and OCBC Bank on the planned Reit IPO, Bloomberg News reported last year.
CDL has constructed more than 46,000 homes and owns over 24 million sq ft of properties in 29 countries and regions, according to its website. Its portfolio includes residences, offices, hotels and shopping malls.
QIA manages about US$300 billion (S$400 billion) of assets and ranks as the world's 11th-largest wealth fund, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. It bought 8 Canada Square, the building in London's Canary Wharf financial district that houses HSBC's head office, in 2014 from South Korea's National Pension Service for an undisclosed amount.
QIA chairman and Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Bloomberg TV in January that the fund was looking to Asia for deals in an effort to diversify an investment portfolio heavily weighted towards North America and Europe.
BLOOMBERG