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Brookfield swoops on bank's Canary Wharf HQ(Estates Gazette Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The Canadian company that failed in a hostile takeover of the Canary Wharf Group is close to increasing its stake in the Docklands estate, writes Darren Lazarus.Brookfield Asset Management - formerly known as Brascan - is believed to have won the battle for the acquisition of the Bank of America headquarters in Canary Wharf. It is being sold for ?450m, a 4.5% yield. Irish investor Derek Quinlan, in a joint venture with private investor Glenn Maud, also bid for the building.The 500,000 sq ft HQ at 5 Canada Square, E14, is being sold as part of a ?1.4bn disposal of Canary Wharf assets by Royal Bank of Scotland, which is raising cash to fund a takeover of Dutch rival ABN Amro. RBS is also seeking offers of around ?950m - a 4.75% yield - for its 1.2m sq ft Citigroup HQ at 25 Canada Square.Brookfield has $26bn (?13.1bn) of property assets under management in the Americas, but has long been committed to investing in the Canary Wharf estate, despite losing out to the Morgan Stanley-led Songbird consortium in its attempt to carry out a hostile takeover of Canary Wharf Group in 2004. Songbird paid ?1.7bn for the estate. Since then, Brookfield has built up a 17% stake in CWG. It also owns 20 Canada Square, having paid ?337.5m for the building in early 2005.Brookfield and the Quinlan/Maud jv were both underbidders for HSBC's Canary Wharf HQ, which was sold to Spanish giant Metrovacesa for ?1.1bn last month.Lazard is advising RBS.5 Canada Square: Bank of America HQ being sold as part of ?1.4bn disposal Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - UK. All Rights Reserved. |