Financial Times
Ping An Insurance, China’s second-largest life assurer by number of policy holders, has become the latest Asian investor to gain a foothold in the City of London property market, buying the Lloyd’s Building in a £260m deal.
The insurer – the first from China to buy in the London market – acquired the distinctive “inside-out” building from Commerzbank, the German lender. The Richard Rogers-designed building, home to the world’s largest insurance market, was bought on a net yield of 6.1 per cent – slightly above average for the City.
Jon Crossfield, director at Savills, one of the estate agencies overseeing the sale, said it was a “high-profile and confident entry into the market”. He added that the deal further illustrated the dominance of overseas investors in London.
Asian investors have led the charge of foreign money coming into the City office market in the past 18 months.