Qatar's Higher Bid for London's Canary Wharf Rejected
Qatar's improved "final offer" to buy London's landmark Canary Wharf office quarter has been rejected, its owner said Friday, seemingly putting an end to a deal.
Songbird, a property firm which controls 69 percent of Canary Wharf Group, said the offer worth £2.6 billion ($4.1 billion, 3.3 billion euros) undervalued Songbird and its growth prospects.
Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and U.S. group Brookfield Property Partners on Thursday published their improved joint offer for Songbird.
The cash bid, pitched at 350 pence per share, compared with the previous 295-pence-per-share or £2.2-billion offer that was rejected last month.
In a statement Friday, Songbird said its "board believes the (new) offer from QIA and Brookfield does not reflect the full value of the company, its unique position and future growth potential".
QIA, which owns Harrods department store and the Shard skyscraper in London, already has a 28.6-percent stake in Songbird. Brookfield owns 22 percent of Canary Wharf Group.
The former Docklands area of London where Canary Wharf is located was re-developed in the 1980s after having fallen into disrepair when the city's status as a trading hub declined and the area is now a magnet for huge building projects .
QIA owns also significant stakes in British supermarket chain Sainsbury's and the London Stock Exchange, as well as half of the Olympic Village apartments in the capital's Stratford district.
Source: Agence France Presse
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