QIA will support London’s Canary Wharf says CEO

Reuters/NurPhoto/Nicolas Economou

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will continue to support London’s Canary Wharf Group (CWG) project as a long-term shareholder, CEO Mansoor Al Mahmoud has confirmed.

The sector contains “a little bit of risk” because of the “leverage and cost of funding,” he told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

However, the fund has no plans to exit the project, Al Mahmoud added.

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The $450 billion sovereign wealth fund and Canada-headquartered Brookfield committed to invest £400 million into the developer of London’s dockland financial district last year.

The proceeds were planned for use in the strategic repositioning of Canary Wharf and to build out additional residential and life sciences projects on the estate, CWG said in a statement issued in October 2023.

CWG owns a high-quality portfolio comprising 33 properties, with 3,500 people living at Canary Wharf and over 54 million visitors last year.

As of June 30, 2023, Canary Wharf Group Investment Holdings had £3.3 billion of net assets, £312 million cash on balance sheet as well as available and undrawn commitments of £130 million in revolving credit facilities with its relationship banks.

HSBC Holdings announced plans in June 2023 to move from its global headquarters in Canary Wharf to a new location in central London due to post-pandemic hybrid working arrangements and a cost-cutting initiative. In November 2022, law firm Clifford Chance said it would leave its Canary Wharf headquarters after its lease expires in 2028.

QIA has been investing in trophy assets since its formation in 2005. During the 2008 financial crisis, the fund backed lenders such as Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse.