- Mortgage Applications Up as Rates Continue to Decrease
- Wal-Mart Targets Video Games with Latest Price Cuts
- 'Black Swan' Shuns Public Life Because of Bernanke
- Dubai World To Meet with Creditors Next Week
- FHA to Toughen Mortgage Rules in Lenders Crackdown
- Obama to Send More Troops; Seeks Afghanistan Exit
- GM Removes CEO Henderson; Whitacre Is Interim Chief
- Yahoo Expands Integration with Facebook
- Who Were the Biggest Winners And Losers This Year?
- Treasury Assistance Comes at High Price For GM
- Unemployment to Peak at 10.5%: Moody's Economist
- 8 Stocks to Gain on Obama's Afghan Plan: Analysts
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
- Stick with Equities—Avoid Emerging Markets: Laszlo Birinyi
- Pfizer Chomps On A Carrot
MOST SHARED
- UK Economy Turned, Inflation to Spike: BoE Economist
- Cisco Has 84% of Tandberg, Won't Extend Bid
- Kohlberg Kravis Bidding for Morgan Stanley's CICC Stake
- Case Closed but Woods Scrutiny Continues
- Australia Regulator Opposes Caltex-Exxon Deal
- Keeping America Great
- GE, Comcast Complete Deal Over NBC Universal: Source
- Australia Parliament Rejects Carbon Trade Laws
- Look Ahead: Markets Count Down to US Jobs Report
Text Size 
SEOUL, Nov 13 (Reuters) - South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) will sign a 800 million pound ($1.33 billion) deal next week to buy HSBC's head office building in London, an official at the world's No. 5 pension fund said on Friday. "We are in talks to close (the deal) early next week," an NPS spokesman said by telephone. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the South Korean pension fund had trumped Deutsche Securities to secure the purchase, and that HSBC would lease the building for the next 18 years, without citing a source. HSBC has been mulling the sale of its premises on New York's Fifth Avenue, the Champs Elysees in Paris and London's Canary Wharf for several months to boost its balance sheet. NPS, with around $200 billion in assets, plans to invest $3 billion in real estate in Tokyo, Sydney, New York and London this year. It appointed real estate investment manager Rockspring to take charge of its central London property acquisitions strategy. Last week, the pension fund announced 268 million pounds worth of office deals in London. Asian pension and sovereign wealth funds with large war chests are on a shopping spree for choice office buildings in global capitals, striking while there are bargains to be had in the wake of the global credit crisis. ($1=.6034 Pound) (Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee and Lee Soo-jung; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ((yeonhee.kim@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5646; Reuters Messaging: yeonhee.kim.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: NPS HSBC/ (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to newsfeedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Print
Email
- Will the Fed raise rates? Will the dollar continue its slide? CNBC experts weigh in on the year ahead.
- CNBC’s Larry Kudlow offers Tiger Woods some advice on dealing with tabloid scrutiny.
- Goldman Sachs has forbidden employees from gathering in private holiday parties of 12 or more.
- Dictionary.com says that of all words searched for in 2009, a synonym for greed was the top gainer.
- Heavily armed pirates in Somalia have set up a sort of stock exhange to fund their hijackings.
- Since its launch in 1998, Google has become a primary force on the Internet. How much do you know about the company?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes