CIC set to buy London office project: FT

[BANGALORE] China Investment Corporation (CIC) is set to buy Chiswick Park, a west-London office development, from US private equity group Blackstone for about £800 million (S$1.6 billion), the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks are at an advanced stage and a deal could be finalised before end of November, the FT said. If successful, the deal would be the second acquisition by CIC in the UK property market after it bought Deutsche Bank's City of London headquarters last year, the newspaper added.

Real estate has been the chief driver of Blackstone's financial success and it has moved aggressively to sell or take public its real estate assets.