Goldman Sachs is understood to have been told to sell a stake in the HSBC tower, the landmark skyscraper at Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands, to help to pay off an £810m loan on the building. Metrovacesa, the Spanish property giant, racked up the debt when it took over the building for £1.09bn last year, believed to be the highest price paid for a property in the UK.

The Times