Canary Wharf secures £610m loan with Apollo

(Sharecast News) - Canary Wharf Group has secured a £610m loan with US private capital firm Apollo, the east London landlord confirmed on Tuesday. CWG said proceeds of the loan - which is secured in tranches against the majority of its 1.2m sq ft retail portfolio - will be used to repay bonds due April 2025 and April 2026.

The loan brings the total refinancings completed by CWG over the last 12 months to £2bn, and means it now has no major debts due before 2028.

Becky Worthington, chief finance officer, said: "This latest deal with Apollo is testament to the strength of the proposition and our performance at Canary Wharf.

"We are pleased that Apollo could provide a bespoke a solution to address both near and medium-term maturities, which speaks to the quality of our portfolio and supports the stability and long-term nature of our capital structure."

Demand for traditional office space has been rocked by the rise of hybrid working. Last year, flagship tenant HSBC announced it would quit Canary Wharf in 2027 after quarter of a century at the site.

However, Worthington said: "We continue to attract new businesses to the wharf, including health, life sciences, education, VC start-ups and scale-up customers.

"Canary Wharf is a thriving, mixed-use neighbourhood, with more than 3,500 people now living here, and that figure is set to double over the next two years."

Major financial tenants who have recommitted, meanwhile, include Barclays, Citibank and JP Morgan, Worthington added.