HSBC sells its group headquarters

Lord Foster was architect on the building project

HSBC is selling its group headquarters in London's Canary Wharf for £772.5m ($1.3bn) in cash, but will remain in the building in a leaseback deal.

It is being bought by the South Korean National Pension Fund - one of Asia's largest sovereign investors.

The bank said they were "delighted" with their new landlords.

HSBC will stay in the building for the last 17 years of the lease. It said a £350m gain would appear on its income statement on the deal's completion.

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."