London's Gherkin office skyscraper sold to Brazilian billionaire
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
