Brexit Britain has received a big vote of confidence from international finance, as Citigroup attempts to seal a £1.2 billion deal to purchase the London skyscraper where its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is located.
Anti-Brexiteers have long claimed that Brexit, and in particular a No Deal Brexit, would see London cast aside in favour of Dublin, Frankfurt, or Paris by the financier class — despite those cities falling far, far below the British capital’s pre-eminent position on the league table of global financial centres.
Citigroup lent its support to this narrative during the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, ploughing a six-figure sum into Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE), the officially designated Remain campaign, alongside other banking corporations including JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and the notorious Goldman Sachs.
However, with exit day on March 29th now looming, quite possibly on No Deal terms, the corporation has given Brexit Britain a substantial vote of confidence by attempting to strike what would be one of the biggest property deals in British history by purchasing its 42-storey Citi Tower headquarters at 25 Canada Square, according to The Times.
“This is another great example of the breadth of international appeal of London office investments, where, for mainly political reasons, assets are offering great value compared with other global cities,” commented Stephen Clifton of property advisory firm Knight Frank.
“When political stability returns, the arbitrage will disappear quickly and this is smart timing.”
Other major multinational businesses to confirm new headquarters in London since the 2016 vote to Leave the European Union include Apple and Google — with the British capital attracting more international tech workers than any other city in Europe.
Pharmaceutical companies have also been seeking out new real estate in the city, including Swiss firm Novartis, a subsidiary of Australia’s CSL named Seqirus, and Autolus, which started out as a University College London start-up but has expanded rapidly after winning £70m in funding in 2014.
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