BBC to raise £250m for 'media village'

THE BBC will launch a £250m bond through merchant bank Barclays Capital this week to finance its White City redevelopment in west London. It will be the third time in two years that the BBC has issued bonds to fund property developments. In all, it has tapped the markets for about £1.2bn.

The BBC's redevelopment partner is property company Land Securities. The bond issue will allow the two organisations to pay off the £250m they borrowed to build the 'media village' next to BBC Television Centre.

Land Securities will allow the BBC to acquire the development when the bond issue has been successfully completed. The Corporation is then expected to sell the site to a new landlord before leasing it back.

The White City development includes a broadcast centre to house the BBC's technical services, a media centre for its corporate offices, an energy centre to service the site and two perimeter buildings. It is also set to include a music centre, home to two of the BBC's five orchestras.

The Corporation is expected to have to raise up to £500m to redevelop its Manchester offices when large parts of its operations move there. Last week, the BBC said it was axing 1,730 jobs, part of 5,000 it is expected to shed in an attempt to slash £355m.