China’s state-owned property investment company firm has continued its worldwide buying spree by acquiring two London properties for £1.2bn.
The Shanghai-based Greenland Holding Group — which owns projects in 65 Chinese cities and has now turned its attention to the European, North American and Australian markets — has bought the site of Britain’s oldest brewery in Wandsworth, west London.
In a separate deal Greenland is in the final stages of investing another £600m in the capital’s Canary Wharf financial district. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of January.
Zhang Yuliang, Greenland’s chairman and president, said the UK’s recovering economy helped drive the group’s overseas investment decisions.
“London is the global financial centre, as well as the most open and diversified city that enjoys the most mature economic development, making it the first option for our investment in Europe thanks to its stable return on assets, high-quality assets and sound market liquidity,” Zhang explained.
The state fund’s first European holding came with the purchase of the historic Ram Brewery for an unconfirmed figure, but widely thought to be in excess of £600m. It says it hopes to complete an already approved mixed development for the 7.7-acre site.
Beer was brewed continuously on the site since the 16th century which, in 1831, became the home of Young & Co. In 2006 the brewers sold the site for £69m as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
Its new owners Minerva, which allowed a former Young’s manager to run a small operation to maintain the Ram’s status as the country’s longest-running brewery, was itself bought two years ago by Delancey Real Estate and Ares Management.
After Minerva’s first redevelopment proposal was turned down in 2008, Wandsworth council approved a revised scheme late last year. The former brewery will now have 9,500sq m of shops, cafés and restaurants with 600-plus homes, including a 36-floor building with 166 luxury apartments. The site will also contain a brewing museum and a microbrewer.
Delancey Real Estate managing director, Paul Goswell, said his company had always intended pressing ahead with the original scheme once updated consent was given last December.
“Our strategy had been to implement the project ourselves, possibly with a partner, but that changed when Greenland made their unsolicited proposal,” he added.
Greenland has confirmed it is looking to invest as much as £4.8bn in new overseas projects this year. It has already acquired New York and Los Angeles property and has entered the Australian market. Other countries on its hit list include Canada, France and Singapore.
The group is the third largest Chinese developer to invest in London, after the Reignwood Group, and a decision by the Dalian Wanda Group to spend £700m on a luxury hotel and apartment building on the South Bank of the Thames.
After several trips to China to encourage investment, London’s deputy mayor Edward Lister has repeatedly stated that Chinese holdings are “hugely important” to the city.
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