Ropes & Gray Advises on £270m Sale of Landmark Canary Wharf Offices

Global law firm Ropes & Gray has advised regular client Said Holdings on its sale of 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London to the Cheung Kei Group for £270m. JP Morgan is the lead tenant, renting ten of the building’s 12 floors, and Time Inc., American Express, Cision Gorkana and Balfour Beatty also have offices in the 319,000 sq. ft. building.

Wafic Saïd, founder of Saïd Holdings, said, “Said Holdings bought this building at an attractive price when financial markets were in a state of some turmoil. A well let asset in Canary Wharf seemed to our board to be a sound investment at that difficult time. We are still confident in the strength of the London market, but received a compelling offer from buyer Cheung Kei Group.”

The Ropes & Gray team was led by real estate partner David Seymour with assistance from tax partner Andrew Howard and tax associate Chris Agnoli, all based in London.

David Seymour, Ropes & Gray real estate partner, said, “The real estate market remains cautious as a result of political instability and uncertainty and some investors  have their foot on the ball. However, the core London market remains attractive to Asian and Middle Eastern investors in a flight to security. We will continue to see Middle Eastern and Asian high-net worth investors investing in London, placing capital in an international safe haven with a recognised rule of law. Those high-net worth buyers see the currency arbitrage and also view BREXIT as a political rather than an economic event.”