Devonshire Square, the London home of insurance firm Aon, is for sale with a price tag of £400 million, the Sunday Times has reported.
Its owners, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds and an American investment firm, have made the move to sell the building after talks with Morgan Stanley, one of its biggest lenders.
Morgan Stanley provided about £340 million of debt for the £410 million purchase of the Liverpool Street-based building in 2006. An arrangement was agreed to extend the loan last autumn on the understanding that the building would be refinanced or sold by next year.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Rockpoint are selling Devonshire Square. Property consultant firm CBRE has been mandated with the task of seeking potential buyers.
Aon has inhabited Devonshire Square since 1984; it is due to move to the ‘cheese grater’ building in 2014 that is being built by British Land and Oxford Properties.
The office block is also home to several upmarket restaurants including Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse & Grill, Cinnamon Kitchen, Devonshire Terrace and Kenza. It also houses supermarket Planet Organic and Fitness First.
Aon recently became the first S&P 500 company to declare its intention to relocate its head offices to London.
