Bank of Ireland Private Banking announced yesterday that it has acquired a 25 per cent stake in the old London Stock Exchange building for a sum of £37.5 million (€55.8 million) on behalf of its private clients.
The bank has entered into a partnership with Hammerson and GE Capital Real Estate to redevelop the 27-storey building into a mixture of grade A offices and retail space.
Construction began on the former home of the London Stock Exchange - beside the Bank of England on Old Broad Street - earlier this year and is expected to be completed by December 2007.
"We have been looking at the City of London for quite a while and we believe that now is the right time in the rental cycle to get involved in a speculative office development," said Peter Collins, director of property at Bank of Ireland Private Banking.
Mr Collins explained that the old London Stock Exchange building is a landmark site in an area with a "severe lack" of high-quality office space.
