Chinese Lender Buys London Office

LONDON—China Construction Bank Corp. has acquired an eight-story office property at 111 Old Broad St. in the City financial district here for £110M, or approximately US $187 million. The seller, Belgian bank KBC Groep NV, will remain at the property long term under a sale-leaseback arrangement, while Construction Bank will use the 122,880-square-foot 111 Old Broad as its European headquarters.

“This successful transaction will allow KBC to continue its role in the City’s financial community from its well-known and ideally located premises while at the same time providing long-term stability in further developing its business activities,” says KBC Bank London general branch manager Theo Speelmans. Reported on Thursday by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, the deal was announced by law firm Reed Smith, which represented KBC, two weeks earlier.