Buyers keen to break up Canary Wharf

CANARY Wharf is being bombarded with offers to break up its multi-billion pound estate.

The Docklands developer, which was taken private this July in a deal valuing the equity at £1.71bn, said it had 'received a number of approaches to buy or refinance certain buildings' within its 97-acre estate.

Offers for any of the completed buildings or sites under development could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

A statement released today from the Morgan Stanley-led consortium Songbird, which owns 67% of Canary, said it is considering whether to 'pursue selected limited sales or refinancings'.

The consortium added it wanted to control key aspects of the development programme and 'retain all or a material portion of the ownership of a core of sub-group of buildings'.

The approaches come almost a year after Royal Bank of Scotland paid £1.1bn for two of Canary's tower blocks occupied by investment banks - 5 Canada Square, leased to Credit Suisse First Boston, and 25 Canada Square, leased to Citigroup. Those sales were completed before Canary was taken private. At the time, Canary said it would continue to market its estate to investors and developers, regardless of whether sale of the whole firm completed.

Other members of the Songbird consortium include US investor Simon Glick and Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Fund. Canary's biggest other shareholder is Canadian developer Brascan (17%), which is opposed to any estate break-up.