LONDON: A Qatari-led consortium looked set to win its long-running battle to buy Songbird Estates Plc yesterday after the owner of London’s Canary Wharf business district dropped its opposition to the $4bn offer.
Songbird said it still thought the price undervalued its properties but with no rival bid forthcoming and holders of 86 percent of the shares backing the deal, it said minority investors should accept. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and its bid partner launched a 350 pence-per-share offer direct to Songbird shareholders in December, hoping to add a financial district rivaling the City of London to landmarks already in its portfolio such as the Shard skyscraper and Harrods department store.
Canary Wharf’s steel and glass towers, home to banks such as HSBC, Citi and JP Morgan, embody the change in London’s economy in the second half of the 20th century as industry dwindled and financial services grew.
The redevelopment of the former West India Docks, which traded in everything from tobacco to bananas, was championed in the 1980s by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
REUTERS
