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Qatar's QIA to buy HSBC's Canary Wharf HQ for GBP1.1bln

Qatar's QIA to buy HSBC's Canary Wharf HQ for GBP1.1bln
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has agreed to buy HSBC's global headquarters, London's biggest and most expensive office building, in the latest sign that the global financial capital's commercial property market is booming once more.

The Qatar Investment Authority(QIA) will pay just over GBP1.1 billion to Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) for the building, according to people familiar with the matter, reported financial times.

However , QIA and NPS declined to comment.

The price just tops the previous record for the Canary Wharf tower, which was bought by Spanish property company Metrovacesa for GBP1.09 billion in 2006.

HSBC had to take back ownership in-house in 2008 after Metrovacesa fell into financial difficulties. It later sold the building to Korean pension fund NPS for nearly £800m.

HSBC has a 13-year lease on the building and is ­committed to annual upward-only inflation-linked rent reviews, according to sources familiar with the tenancy arrangements.

Last year, HSBC ruled out the possibility of relocating its headquarters to Hong Kong, opting to stay in the UK despite stricter European restrictions on bankers' bonuses.