A major expansion of London’s Canary Wharf business district has been announced with the acquisition of its neighbouring Wood Wharf development.

Canary Wharf Group which already owns 25 per cent of Wood Wharf has now acquired the remaining 75 per cent from British Waterways and Ballymore Properties for �90 million.

Canary Wharf Chairman Sir George Iacobescu, recently knighted in the New Year’s Honours, said: “Wood Wharf marks an important evolution in Canary Wharf business district’s development. The acquisition terms are attractive for land with planning consent adjacent to Canary Wharf which will benefit from Crossrail from 2018.”

The 16.8 acre Wood Wharf site on the Thames waterfront at Blackwall Reach holds London’s largest-ever single outline planning consent for nearly five million sq ft—an area almost a third of the size of the Canary Wharf Estate itself.

This includes 31 million sq ft of offices, 1.25m sq ft residential and 200,000 sq ft of shops and stores, as well as a hotel.

British Waterways retains the freehold, having sold a 250-year lease to Canary Wharf Group for �52m that will fetch an annual ground rent of �4m for the next four years, rising to �6m by 2016. Ballymore Properties gets �38m for its 25 per cent stake in Wood Wharf.