Battersea Power Station to be sold for £1.6 billion

One of London’s most historic and iconic buildings, Battersea Power Station, is to be sold for £1.6 billion in one of the UK’s largest ever property deals.

The Battersea Power Station Development Company has released a statement confirming that, along with Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has announced its intention to purchase the landmark site.

Even by London’s foreign investment standards, the £1.6 billion price tag is enormous – outdoing the £1.28 billion paid for the Walkie Talkie building in 2017 by a large margin.

The Grade II listed building is currently undergoing huge regeneration to turn the site into a bustling, mixed-use construction that will include commercial and retail space, as well as 250 apartments (most of which have already been sold). Tech giant Apple have also committed to plans to make the former central boiler house of the power station the home of their UK headquarters by 2021, guaranteeing a future income stream thought to have been the motivation behind PNB’s decision to go ahead with the negotiation.

The deal also marks a significant upturn in the post-Brexit market, which has suffered from rising construction costs caused by the depreciation of the pound since the referendum. A BPSDC spokesperson explains; “The Battersea Power Station building would provide both investors with a unique investment opportunity to own an iconic development in the heart of London.”