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State-owned Chinese insurer Anbang is reportedly in talks with Canadian banks and commercial realtors over the sale of its office towers in Vancouver.
In 2016, Anbang acquired a majority controlling stake in the Bentall Centre office complex in downtown Vancouver, spending about $476 million. The insurer later purchased the remaining 34% in the buildings, together valued at $730 million.
Since then, however, the company’s chairman has been prosecuted for economic crimes and Anbang itself was ultimately seized by Beijing. Now under control of the government, the insurer earlier this year hinted at divesting its overseas assets.
The four-tower office complex is said to be worth more than a billion dollars. It is also considered the largest office tower complex in Metro Vancouver, with roughly two million square feet of floor space.
Mingtiandi reported that if Anbang follows through with the Canadian negotiations, it could be the company’s first disposal of a Canadian real estate asset since it began snapping up offices and retirement homes in North America from 2015 to 2017.
During that period, the company spent approximately $1.96 billion, buying assets such as the Vancouver-based senior home chain Retirement Concepts – the transaction itself sparking a controversy over national security.
