Karel Komárek buys BP's London office for 8.2 billion crowns

The investment group KKCG, owned by Czech billionaire Karel Komárek, is buying a building on London’s prestigious St James’s Square that currently houses the headquarters of British Petroleum. The deal is worth £291 million — roughly 8.2 billion crowns — and the property will later undergo a major redevelopment designed by the renowned architect Norman Foster.

The building stands in one of London’s most prestigious districts, the West End, just steps from Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. KKCG Real Estate is buying the property together with the land from a Hong Kong-based holding company. BP will remain a tenant until April 2028, after which reconstruction will begin under a permit that has already been granted.

The design by Foster + Partners will turn the former BP office into a modern business centre spanning 11,200 square metres. The load-bearing structure will be preserved to reduce the project’s environmental impact, but the building will gain a new façade, a rooftop terrace and two additional floors — expanding its total floor area by almost a fifth.

The purchase fits KKCG Real Estate’s strategy of expanding its commercial property portfolio in the British capital, where the company opened a dedicated office last year. “Beyond energy, entertainment and technology, we are now establishing ourselves on the international real estate market too. And London is one of the most competitive markets in the world,” Komárek said. The development partner on the project is the British firm YardNine. According to The Real Deal, heavyweight bidders for the building also included JP Morgan Asset Management and Blackstone.

This is already the second major London investment by Komárek’s group in a short space of time. Late last year his lottery company Allwyn bought The Burlyan building at the corner of New Bond Street and Oxford Street for €222 million (5.4 billion crowns); its tenants include Abercrombie & Fitch, while part of the offices are occupied by Allwyn’s own staff.

Czech capital’s interest in the London market has grown noticeably in recent years: the city already hosts Marek Dospiva’s Penta Group, with two residential projects by the Thames, the Kellner family’s PPF, J&T, and developer Jan Fiedler’s Sebre.