Telecoms giant BT has agreed a £209.6 million deal to sell its London headquarters as it ploughs on with a radical overhaul of its offices.
A real estate fund managed by private equity firm Orion Capital Managers is buying the building in St Paul’s.
The deal includes an initial agreement for BT to lease back the 300,000sq ft building for 30 months, allowing it time to move to a new location in the capital.
BT said it would announce details of its new headquarters “shortly”.
It comes as part of the group’s sweeping shake-up announced last month that will see 270 offices closed.
The consolidation plan – the biggest of its type in the UK – will see 300 offices reduced to 30 by 2023, although BT stressed that no jobs will be lost as a result of the move.
However, it has also previously said it is cutting around 13,000 staff and also hiring about 6,000 people under a drive to save £1.5 billion over three years and modernise the business.
Around 52,000 people are currently employed across BT’s 300 locations.
The 30 centres remaining after the cull will be modern buildings, including corporate offices, contact centres and specialist sites.
Its key locations in the future will be in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, London and Manchester.
