The sale of the Walbrook Building, a prime City of London office and retail building, to Taiwan-based insurer Cathay Life has been confirmed by the owner, Minerva, a real estate investment and development group (IAR, 9 March 2015, Cathay Life bids for Walbrook Building).
The price for the distinctive building, designed by Foster & Partners and near Cannon Street station, was £575m ($909m).
Last August, Cathay Life, one of Taiwan's biggest insurance companies, made its first foray into the City of London property market with the purchase of the Woolgate Exchange on Basinghall Street for around £320m ($350m). (IAR, 27 August 2014, Cathay Life buys London office).
The purchases follow the ruling by Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission in April 2013 that insurers from that country could invest in real estate abroad. Previously they were limited to domestic purchases.
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