skip to main content

HSBC property sale beats 'gherkin' record

Global banking giant HSBC has sold its London headquarters for £1.09 billion to Spanish property group Metrovacesa, in the biggest  property deal in British history.

The sale, which was worth €1.6 billion, will allow HSBC to remain in the building -  but  Metrovacesa will own a 998-year lease, the bank announced in an  official statement.

The 45 floor skyscraper towers over the Canary Wharf district in East London.

The deal, which is expected to be completed in the first half of this year, eclipsed the previous British record set by the landmark  London skyscraper known as the 'gherkin'.

A German property firm snapped up the 'gherkin' -- whose official title is 30 St Mary Axe -- for £600m last  February from Swiss reinsurance group SwissRe.