China’s CC Land rumoured to buy Cheesegrater for over £1bn

British Land (LON:BLND) and Oxford Properties are in advanced talks to sell The Leadenhall building to CC Land (HKG:1224), a company run by the Chinese property magnate Cheung Chung-kiu.

The potential deal will see the “Cheesegrater” skyscraper in the City of London to be sold for 1.02 billion pounds, making it the second most expensive building sold in London behind the HSBC tower in the Canary Wharf financial district.

“It is not certain that these discussions will lead to a sale of the building,” British Land said in a statement on Tuesday on the future of London’s Cheesegrater building. If it is sold for the rumoured amount, CC Land will have having seen off rival bids from Korea Investment Corp and Temasek Holdings.

The 225m-high skyscraper gained its nickname as a result of its distinctive wedgelike shape. It was completed in 2013 and broke records for rents in the City of London of more than 100 pounds per square foot and is leased to tenants including Aon Plc (NYSE:AON) and Amlin Plc (LON:AML).

British Land plans to use profits from the sale to finance the construction of an office located at Broadgate, next to Liverpool Street railway station.

This is not the first time CC Land has acquired property in London. The Chinese company made its first overseas investment in January, with the purchase of One Kingdom Street, an office building in London’s West End for £290 million.

When speaking of this purchase, the group said that the deal had “offered the group . . . the opportunity to diversify its investment portfolio into key gateway international cities such as London”

The sale of the Cheesegrater will be closely watched to indicate the state of the UK property market following the Brexit vote last year, which caused an immediate drop in real estate prices. 

CC Land said: “We do not comment on market rumours.” Oxford Properties have declined to comment.

According to broker Knight Frank, Chinese and Hong Kong investors spent 2.9 billion pounds — more than buyers from any other region — on central London offices in 2016.