Barclays buys £750 million long-term lease on its Canary Wharf headquarters

By Iain Withers

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Barclays has bought a 999-year lease for its global headquarters in Canary Wharf in London for £750 million ($992.8 million), committing its long-term future to the rebounding financial district.

The British bank said the deal gives it control of the building long beyond expiry of its current lease with landlord Canary Wharf Group in 2039 and that it expects the transaction to have a broadly neutral impact on its capital ratio and earnings.

The East London financial district's fortunes have improved somewhat since the post-pandemic slump in office demand that led to high-profile tenants such as HSBC choosing to move out.

Lettings have recovered in the past couple of years, with the likes of Spanish bank BBVA and fintech company Zopa taking space while Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan has said it will build a new tower in the area.

“One Churchill Place has been our home and global headquarters for more than two decades," said Barclays Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan. 

"This acquisition gives us long-term certainty, greater flexibility over our London footprint and reinforces our continued confidence in London as one of the world’s leading global financial centres.”

($1 = 0.7555 pounds)

(Reporting by Iain Withers in LondonAdditional reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in BengaluruEditing by David Goodman)