Anglo American has halted its sale of the historic London headquarters of De Beers at 17 Charterhouse Street, EC1.
Oaktree Capital and Quadrant Estates had been in talks to buy the circa 110,000 sq ft building, which was to be sold with vacant possession along with 27 flats totalling 20,000 sq ft. However, those talks have now been put on hold while Anglo American considers its options for the building.
It is understood one of Anglo American’s option could be to move its London headquarters to the site after its lease at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, expires in 2020. The building could then be relaunched to market next year on a sale and leaseback basis.
Estates Gazette reported on 7 July this year that BNP Paribas Real Estate has been instructed to sell the building at around £100m.
Situated around the corner from the Hatton Garden diamond district, the property includes a rooftop helipad, and was previously the workplace of 1,500 people employed to sort gems from around the world.
The sale was to form part of a major asset disposal programme at Anglo American, which owns De Beers.
A spokesman for Anglo American said there was “an ongoing process” and the company was “exploring all options.”
BNP PRE, Quadrant and Oaktree declined to comment.
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