The domestic Chinese markets may be under stress however yet more Chinese institutional money has found its way into Europe with the news that the buyer of the 10-storey building at 30 South Colonnade in London’s Docklands is HNA Investment Holdings. HNA is a unit of Hainan Airlines Group which grew from a local aviation transportation operator to a multinational conglomerate encompassing aviation, airport management, financial services, real estate, retail, tourism and logistics.
HNA Investment Holdings is one of the wholly owned subsidiaries of the HNA Group. Its business activities include project investments, asset management, fund administration and fiduciary business.
London is Europe's largest economic centre and is seen as a practical and business friendly springboard for multinational companies to enter the European market. The successful acquisition by HNA of the Reuters headquarters building lays the foundation for the expansion of the Chinese conglomerates operations into Europe and will further enhance the international reputation of Hainan Airlines Group.”
Earlier this year the UK media reported that the asking price for the building was in the region of £215 million. Thomson Reuters is said to lease the building for £11.9 million a year and the tenancy runs until 2020. Reuters moved its global headquarters to 30 South Colonnade from 85 Fleet Street in 2004.
The building has been owned since December 2005 by Frankfurt based fund manager KanAm Grund Group.
As a condition of the sale the purchase price has not yet been disclosed.
