Bank to lease properties from Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf Group said today it has agreed to sell two of its leasehold properties in London's Docklands for £1.112 bn (€1.59bn) in cash to units of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBoS).

They include a 1.2 m sq. feet Canary Wharf tower which is leased to Citigroup, and a 515,080 sq. ft building which is occupied by Credit Suisse First Boston.

The price was about 9% above their market value as of the end of June and Canary Wharf group is getting £64.6m (€91.8m) in annual rental income from these properties.

RBoS recently bought Dublin-based First Active, in a €887m deal, in order to merge the mortgage lender with its Ulster bank subsidiary.