Asian Wealth Firm Bags Major London Office

Tom Burroughes

6 May 2020

An Asian wealth management firm has bought a £94.2 million ($117.5 million) London office building in the capital’s City financial district from China-based vendors keen to build cash amid the pandemic-induced turmoil.

Chuang’s Consortium International and Chuang’s China Investments, which had owned 10 Fenchurch Street jointly, have agreed to sell the building to Retain Prosper Limited, a UK-registered entity, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange statement at the weekend from both of the Chuang-labelled organisations. The sale was conducted by an entity called Bizking Limited, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands. Both the Chuang organisations are incorporated in Bermuda.

Mingtiandi, a publication which covers Asia real estate news, said that Retain Prosper is affiliated with Mighty Divine, an investment firm acting for Chinese high net worth families.

The Chuang’s groups had bought the property from Standard Life in November 2016 for £80 million (a few months after the UK’s momentous Brexit vote), the publication said.

The sellers explained that their decision to offload the property was down to their “cash is king” policy in uncertain times.

“Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the accelerating , has noted how family offices have been affected by and are making provisions to protect themselves as a result of the pandemic. (See stories here and here. To register for the Highworth database, click on this link.)