Canary Wharf has agreed to borrow £610 million from US investment giant Apollo in order to pay off bonds over the coming years.
Having faced pressure due to a shift in working patterns since the pandemic, Canary Wharf Group said the loan would be used to cover bonds due in April 2025 and 2026.
The loan was secured against its 1.2 million square feet retail portfolio, the financial district landlord said, adding this was currently 97% occupied.
More than £2 billion worth of refinancing had been completed over the past year, Canary Wharf added, including on buildings occupied by the likes of Société Générale and EY.
“We are pleased that Apollo could provide a bespoke solution to address both near and medium-term maturities,” chief executive Becky Worthington said.
“We continue to attract new businesses to the Wharf including health, life sciences, education, VC start-ups and scale-up customers.”
She added the likes of Barclays, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Citibank and JP Morgan had recently committed to staying in Canary Wharf, while Revolut chose the area for its headquarters.
However, major tenant HSBC has signalled plans to ditch Canary Wharf for a smaller office near St Paul’s Cathedral in line with a pandemic-fuelled shift to home working, while property prices across the district collectively fell by £1.2 billion in 2023.