Revamp of £5bn debt on cards at Canary

THE new owners of Docklands developer Canary Wharf are pondering a refinancing of its massive £5.19bn of borrowings.

Songbird Estates, the Morgan-Stanley controlled Aim-listed holding company that owns nearly 62% of Canary since winning a £1.7bn takeover battle last May, revealed the plan as it delivered maiden results showing a loss of £62.4m.

With net debt - which takes account of cash deposits - standing at just over £4bn at 31 December Songbird chairman Derek Bonham said today: 'Consideration is also being given to the structure of group indebtedness with a view to maximising flexibility and minimising cost of debt.'

Songbird's biggest investors other than Morgan Stanley funds are US magnate Simon Glick, Saudi billionaire Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal and Goldman Sachs' Whitehall property funds.

Empty space in the 100-plus acres of Canary buildings which stood at 13.9% at 31 December will fall to 11.5% after a series of new lettings and sales of two buildings in separate deals worth £472m.

The value of the Canary estate at 31 December rose to £5.58bn from £5.3bn in May, the date of the Morgan Stanley-led purchase of Canary Wharf.