Qatar Fund May Up Bid For Canary Wharf Owner Songbird

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners may increase their 2.2 billion pound ($3.5 billion) takeover offer for Songbird Estates , majority owner of London’s Canary Wharf, the Sunday Times reported.

Songbird rejected an initial approach on Friday, saying the 295-pence a share offer significantly undervalued the company.

Sovereign wealth fund QIA, advised by Barclays and Citigroup, and Brookfield, advised by HSBC, have been preparing another approach this weekend, the Sunday Times said.

QIA already owns 28.6 per cent of Songbird, which in turn owns 69 per cent of Canary Wharf Group, the owner of the estate, which rivals the City of London as a financial services centre.

U.S.-listed Brookfield, which operates and invests in office and industrial property, has a 22 percent stake in Canary Wharf Group.

A Brookfield spokeswoman declined to comment. QIA did not respond to request for comment.

Other top shareholders in Songbird include New York-based investor Simon Glick, China Investment Corp and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

QIA and Brookfield would be willing to open the bidding consortium to another shareholder, such as CIC, the Sunday Times said.

Songbird’s shares closed at 310 pence on Friday.