Canadian investor Brookfield is intending to expand its empire into London. The company's vast empire, which spans as much as 87 million square feet of office space in cities such as Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Sydney, Toronto and Washington, controls $150 billion in assets all over the world and owns around ten per cent of downtown Manhattan but has so far had a gap in its portfolio in the shape of the United Kingdom. That is now set to change with the company having appointed the London head of FTSE 100 firm Hammerson to kick off its move into the United Kingdom and is all set to construct what will be one of London's biggest skyscrapers in the form of 100 Bishopsgate.
"It is amazing how many people I talk to who take a sharp intake of breath when I talk about the size of the portfolio," says the new senior vice president of investment and development for Brookfield, and the company's UK boss, Martin Jepson.
The company's desire to move into London is yet more proof of the attractiveness of the capital city to foreign investors in the midst of the Eurozone crisis. "Businesses still see London as a financial centre," Jepson notes. "You see it very much on the ownership side. London is a safe haven. There is almost a direct correlation between crisis around the world and money coming into London. That is a status that we need to recognise and protect."
