Around 4000 City workers now have a Chinese landlord after the Lloyd’s of London building was snapped up by Chinese insurer Ping An for £260 million today. The Richard Rogers designed “inside-out” building — let to Lloyd’s until 2031 — is the first major acquisition by a Chinese insurer in the UK, but could trigger a flood of similar purchases.
Humbert Pang, the Chinese head of Ping An’s adviser Gaw Capital Partners said: “As an active player in the real estate market in China, Gaw Capital Partners is seeing more opportunities to assist Chinese institutional investors going overseas.” The building was previously owned by Germany’s Commerzbank, which paid £231 million in 2005.
London is in line for another skyscraper after developer Brookfield struck a joint venture with residential specialist Concord Pacific to bring forward the 50-storey residential tower at Principal Place on the edge of the City.
