London's Gherkin office skyscraper sold to Brazilian billionaire

London's Gherkin office skyscraper sold to Brazilian billionaire
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Joseph Safra, Brazil’s second-wealthiest man, is buying London’s Gherkin skyscraper.

The conical office tower has been bought by Safra Group, a company he ­controls, for about £726 million (A$1.33 billion).

The Gherkin tower, at 30 St Mary Axe, has become one of ­London’s best-known landmarks since it opened a decade ago.

The building was one of the first skyscrapers in the city to earn a nickname. Its tenants include reinsurer Swiss Re.

Safra has an estimated net worth of $US12.2 billion (A$14 billion), coming from a family with roots in mid-19th-century Aleppo, Syria.

A fund managed by IVG Im­mobilien, once Germany’s biggest real estate company, and London-based Evans Randall bought the Gherkin from Swiss Re for £600 million (A$1.08 billion) in 2007. Deloitte took control of the building in April after the Swiss franc’s appreciation caused some of the debt payments to balloon.

The price is equivalent to a yield of about 3.8%, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Photo: Creative Commons

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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