HSBC agrees sale of 8 Canada Square

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13 November 2009

HSBC Bank plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, has agreed the sale of 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London to the National Pension Service of Korea ('NPS') for £772.5 million in cash. As a result of the transaction, a gain of approximately £350 million will be recognised in HSBC's income statement on completion, expected to be before 31 December 2009.

NPS, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NPS 8CS Holdings Sarl, will purchase HSBC's 100 per cent shareholding in Project Maple II B.V., the sole asset of which is the 998-year leasehold interest in 8 Canada Square. Under the terms of the agreement, HSBC will retain full control of occupancy for the remaining 17.5 years of the existing 20 year leaseback period at a current rent of £46 million per annum.

Ken Harvey, HSBC's Chief Technology and Services Officer, said: "We actively manage our global real estate portfolio in accordance with the needs of our businesses and in the interests of our shareholders, and we are delighted the National Pension Service of Korea, one of Asia's largest sovereign investors, will be our new landlord."

HSBC originally entered into a sale and leaseback of 8 Canada Square in May 2007 for £1.09 billion. In December 2008, HSBC took back ownership of the building for £838 million, resulting in a gain of approximately £250 million.

Media enquiries to:

Patrick McGuinness
+44 (0) 20 7991 0111
patrickmcguinness@hsbc.com

Brendan McNamara
+44 (0) 20 7991 0655
brendan.mcnamara@hsbc.com

Photographs
Photographs of HSBC's head office building at 8 Canada Square are available from the above contacts or can be downloaded from the Group's website by following this link.

8 Canada Square
Construction of 8 Canada Square began in 1999. HSBC began occupation in 2002 and completed occupancy in 2003. It rises 210 metres or 700 feet above ground; there are 44 storeys above ground and four storeys below ground (excluding the ground floor). The current configuration of 1.1million square feet of internal space can accommodate up to 8,500 staff. There are 45,000 square metres, 4,900 panels and 192 curved panels of glass within the structure of the headquarters. The roof has 617 square metres of solar photovoltaic panels to generate green electricity.

CB Richard Ellis Limited and Linklaters LLP acted for HSBC, and JP Morgan Asset Management and Berwin Leighton Paisner acted for NPS in this transaction.

National Pension Service of Korea
The National Pension Service was established in 1987 to contribute to people's stable life by collecting contributions and paying pension benefits for the insured people or their dependents in preparation for retirement or unexpected risks such as disability and death. The National Pension Service operates the national pension scheme, with a pension fund of about KRW 270.1 trillion (as of September 2009), and implements welfare programmes for the insured persons and pensioners. It currently employs about 4,900 people in its headquarters, Fund Management Centre, the National Pension Research Centre, the Social Insurance Information Portal Centre, 91 regional offices, 5 consolidated support service centres and 22 field offices.

HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,422 billion at 30 June 2009, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.