First Claim Case against Lehmann Brothers Filed by Canary Wharf
Lehmann Brothers Holdings, Inc, the huge securities firm, which collapsed last year, was the biggest occupant of the Bank Street property of Canary Wharf in London, occupying nearly 1 million square foot in lease for a period of 30 years. The ramifications of their filing for bankruptcy last year have been manifold, with many creditors around the world staking their claims resulting in the total dues of nearly one trillion dollars.
One of the first companies to file a claim against Lehmann Brothers is Canary Wharf Group Plc, which is seeking unpaid amounts on desk space rental and projected costs for an unknown period from the securities company. The total amount of this single claim is said to be nearly 4.3 billion dollars, of which $2.6 billion is future unpaid rents and $1.6 billion is the other costs.
Songbird Estates Plc is the major shareholder in Canary Wharf Plc, with nearly 61 percent shareholding, which it plans to increase to 69 percent by purchasing additional shares. It is interesting to note that nearly sixteen percent of Songbird’s income last year came from the office rental accrued from this
Songbird plans to pay off its Citibank loan and raise additional funds for new projects by selling its shares. Major shareholders of Songbird Plc include big players like Morgan Stanley, the New York based bank, part tenant and part owner of the Canary Wharf estate holding about 12 percent of the shares and giants like British Land Company, Qatar Holding LLC, China Investment Corp and US Investor Simon Glick.
