The London Cucumber was purchased by Brazilian billionaire Safra

London - The skyscraper known as the Gherkin, which has been one of the symbols of modern London for the past ten years, has been purchased by Brazilian billionaire Joseph Safra. He paid more than 700 million pounds (about 25 billion CZK), the British BBC reported today.
    The 180-meter-tall building was designed by the renowned English architect Norman Foster in the heart of the financial district of the City and, after its completion in 2004, it was the second tallest structure in the area. The skyscraper, officially named after its address 30 St Mary Axe, has earned the nickname Gherkin due to its unusually rounded lines, under which it is now commonly known.
    The original owner of the building was the Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re, which sold it in 2006, at the peak of the real estate boom, to a fund of the German real estate company IVG Immobilien and British Evans Randall. The new owners paid over 600 million pounds for the building, which was then the highest price ever paid in Britain for an office building. However, during the crisis, the new owner stopped repaying the loan with which the skyscraper was purchased.
    The sale of the Gherkin has been entrusted to Savills and Deloitte Real Estate this year. They gathered purchase offers from about 200 interested parties.
    Brazilian winner Joseph Safra (75) has an estimated net worth of around 15 billion dollars (332 billion CZK), according to the latest data from Forbes magazine. His investment company, Safra Group, manages assets worth more than 200 billion dollars worldwide. Safra’s group, in conjunction with Brazilian juice producer Cutrale, won the battle for the takeover of American banana distributor Chiquita Brands International in October.