Chinachem Group acquires Kaleidoscope housing TikTok's London HQ

Hong Kong developer Chinachem Group has confirmed to acquire Kaleidoscope at £158.5 million (around HK$1.4 billion) from property investment company Helical. Currently TikTok’s London headquarter is situated at the Kaleidoscope building. Kaleidoscope is currently fully occupied by Tiktok, the popular short form video hosting service owned by ByteDance, who took a 15-year lease in March 2021 at £7million per annum. 

According to the press release, completion is due to take place in ten days. This transaction marks the group’s first overseas acquisition, which will help drive its portfolio diversification and sustainable growth.  Newly completed in 2019, this six-storey office building sits above the Farringdon East Crossrail Station which is a well-connected area that has attracted many tech companies.

Donald Choi, executive director and CEO of Chinachem Group, said: “We’re delighted to have acquired Kaleidoscope successfully as it is located in a prime position in one of London’s most dynamic, vibrant and culturally rich sub-markets with impressive rental growth. We intend to hold this property for long-term investment.”

Choi added: “Having now made our London entrance, we will incrementally increase our exposure in gateway cities of other major developed markets in order to move further forward our diversification objectives and build a long-term resilient income stream. However, Hong Kong still remains our home and the core market of our business operations.”

Matthew Bonning-Snook, property director at Helical, commented: “Kaleidoscope was the first over station development to complete on the Elizabeth Line and we were able to attract one of the world’s fastest growing tech businesses due to its striking design, highly accessible location, excellent amenities and strong environmental credentials. We will now seek to recycle the proceeds from the sale into delivering new highly sustainable ‘best-in-class’ Central London office schemes, where occupier demand remains strong.”

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