Hong Kong firm beats Brexit blues with record London skyscraper deal

Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee (LKK), a sauces and

condiments group best known for its oyster sauce,said on Thursday it

would buy London’s landmark “Walkie Talkie” skyscraper in a

record-breaking transaction for a single building in the UK.

LKK

agreed to acquire the property from Land Securities Group and Canary

Wharf Group for 1.28 billion pounds (1.68 billion US dollars).

London

has emerged as a hot property market for foreign investors, including

those from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative

Region, who have piled in after Britain's vote to leave the European

Union weakened the pound.

Chinese property magnate Cheung Chung-kiu's CC Land

agreed in March to buy a London skyscraper, that was given the nickname

"Cheesegrater" and owned by British Land and Oxford Properties, for 1.15

billion pounds.

For LKK, the deal to buy the "Walkie Talkie" building is its first outside of Hong Kong and China.

The skyscraper, developed as a joint venture between Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group in 2010.

The property, designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, is known for its Sky Garden, which has become a tourist attraction.

Land

Securities, Britain's largest listed property developer, said it would

receive 641 million pounds from the sale. It said it would return 475

million pounds to shareholders, with the rest used to repay debt.

Land

Securities, whose shares were up 2.1 percent in early trading, said its

half of the property share was last valued at 567.5 million pounds as

of March 31.

While foreign investment has boosted

some parts of the property market, sales have slowed down overall

because many British people have been hit by the inflationary pressures

caused by the increase in the price of imports.