Evans Randall to sell Canary Wharf property

Evans Randall, the investment banking and private equity group, have put 5 Canada Square in London’s Docklands up for sale for an asking price of approximately £380m.

The Mayfair-based group – specialists in alternative assets – bought the building in Canary Wharf from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007 for £452m, a yield of 4.4%.

The iconic property covers 14 storeys, with a total area of 515,000 sq ft. Following the completion of construction in 2002, 5 Canada Square was let to Credit Suisse International on a 25 year lease which is due to expire in 2027.

CBRE are advising on the sale of the site, which is predicted to raise an annual rent of around £19.7m, or £38 per sq ft.

In March Evans Randall confirmed that a 5% stake in the property had been sold to Amundi Real Estate; the merged real estate interests of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.

The asset is Evans Randall’s second largest in the capital, alongside the landmark ‘Gherkin’ building at 30 St. Mary Axe, which was bought with real estate company IVG for £630m in 2006.

The move comes just weeks after the partners requested a further £75m from their German investors to remedy a complex loan default on the building designed by Norman Foster, the result of an ownership transfer deal in 2006 and fluctuations in the value of the Swiss franc.

The deficit is rumoured to be the result of a decrease in the overall value of the property by £100m to £531m, according to a valuation from March 2012.