Potential Telegraph suitor’s US hedge fund to expand London HQ
KEN GRIFFIN, a US billionaire and potential Telegraph suitor, is dramatically expanding the size of his US hedge fund’s London headquarters.
Citadel and its sister market-maker Citadel Securities, which were founded by 55-year-old Mr Griffin, are reportedly preparing to move into British Land’s new flagship skyscraper.
The companies have agreed to lease 250,000 sq ft of office space at 2 Finsbury Avenue in the City of London, a third of the 750,000 sq ft building, with options to lease a further 130,000 sq ft.
The skyscraper comprises two 36-storey towers and is due to be completed in 2027. Citadel’s current 85,000 sq ft base is Deka’s Moor House at 120 London Wall.
Citadel, one of America’s largest US hedge funds, with $58bn (£46.5bn) under management, was founded by Mr Griffin in 1990. He is chief executive and head of investment at the firm. In 2001, he founded Citadel Securities, an electronic trading firm that makes money by buying and selling millions of trades. Mr Griffin and his investment partner Sir Paul Marshall, the co-founder of hedge fund Marshall Wace and a jointowner of GB News, are among suitors looking to buy The Telegraph.
Sir Paul has been a very active bidder since a takeover attempt by Redbird IMI, a Uae-backed fund, was blocked by the Government last month.
He and Mr Griffin are believed to have an appetite to pay more than £600m for The Telegraph and
The Spectator titles. The expansion signals an increased desire among US private equity firms to continue buying undervalued UK companies in take-private deals, delisting them from London’s stock market.
Gerald Beeson, chief operating officer at Citadel, said the new building would benefit “the exceptional talent we attract to our firm as we continue to grow our presence in London”.
The building, which is fully powered by electricity, is part of British Land’s joint venture with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to transform the Broadgate area.
In 2019, Mr Griffin bought a $122m mansion near Buckingham Palace that once belonged to former French president Charles de Gaulle. It was then the most expensive London house sale for a decade. He has also broken real estate records after spending hundreds of millions of dollars buying homes in New York, Chicago and Miami and is building a $1bn estate in Palm Beach, Florida, that it is believed will be the most expensive home on Earth.
He also reportedly owns property in Florida’s Indian Creek, an exclusive man-made island called the “billionaire bunker” whose residents include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump and DJ David Guetta.