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The owner of Canary Wharf was today rescued by cash from Qatar and China in a deal which could see the overseas investors take control of more than half the company.
Songbird Estates, which owns much of the Docklands development, was struggling to survive as it buckled under the weight of £880 million of debt.
It today secured a deal to repay the debt thanks to a massive injection of cash from sovereign wealth funds Qatar Holdings and China Investment Corporation.
Sovereign wealth funds are controversial because of worries over foreign governments' growing influence in the British economy but supporters point out how they have spent billions helping to rescue Britain's beleaguered banks.
Songbird was almost crippled by the level of its debt at a time when property prices in Britain were crashing.
The value of its Canary Wharf estate has gone from £7.5 billion in 2007 to £4.9 billion this year.
