Several hundred thousand square feet of central London office space are involved in the agreement, which will be worth close to £557 million and regards an office building in Bishops Square.
The UK-based property group Hammerson will benefit most from the acquisition, which developed the relatively new office space through a joint venture with the Oman Investment Fund in 2005.
The joint venture is three-quarters owned by Hammerson, and the City of London office space is reportedly well populated, with the local law firm Allen & Overy as its primary tenant.
Peter Reilly, head of JP Morgan Asset Management’s European Real Estate Group, said: “We remain bullish on investing in high-quality, well-tenanted office properties located throughout Europe’s most important cities, and this acquisition represents a further expansion of our funds’ core property portfolio in Europe.”
Bloomberg has been reporting on the story today and has itself recently revealed plans to establish a new European headquarters in central London office space. The media company agreed to acquire a 3.2-acre site in the City, where two new office buildings are set to be built over the next five years.
Office space in the City of London is among the most sought-after in Europe, while similar real estate in the West End is the most expensive in the world, according to data compiled by the commercial property analysts Cushman & Wakefield.
Editor’s notes: As of May 2023, Allen & Overy remained in occupation at One Bishops Square; however, it was announced in November 2021 that the law firm would exercise its break option in 2027.
It was revealed in British Land’s financial results that the landlord had agreed to a deal under which Allen & Overy would rent 254,000 square feet at 2 Broadgate from 2027.
The law firm currently rents 500,000 square feet at One Bishops Square, so it will be a considerable downsizing and will involve moving 1,800 people in phases during the winter of 2026-27.
Allen & Overy advised that the move to 2 Broadgate will contribute to an estimated 80 per cent reduction in the firm’s annual London office carbon emissions.
As of May 2024, Allen & Overy rebranded as A&O Shearman following a merger with Shearman & Sterling, creating a firm estimated to have nearly 4,000 attorneys across 49 offices and a combined revenue of $3.4 billion at the time of the merger, making it the third-largest law firm in the world.
In October 2024, it was reported that A&O Shearman had committed to a further 100,000 square feet of office space at Broadgate, bringing its total commitment to 354,000 square feet.
As of June 2026, A&O Shearman was still in occupation at One Bishops Square.
In November 2025, JPMorgan announced plans to build a 3 million-square-foot tower in Canary Wharf, which would be the largest office building in London.
Plans for the tower, which would serve as the bank’s UK headquarters and house more than half of its 23,000 UK staff, would be subject to planning permission, and the project would depend on “a continuing positive business environment in the UK”.