Billionaire Ortega Said to Pay $670 Million for London Building

Amancio Ortega, the billionaire owner of clothing retailer Inditex SA, bought an office building in Londons West End for 410 million pounds ($670 million), a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Ortegas Ponte Gadea SL bought Devonshire House, a 1920s property opposite the Ritz hotel, from the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Joelle Halperin, a spokeswoman for Lehman Brothers, declined to comment. Ponte Gadea didnt respond to calls and an e-mail requesting comment.

Regulations protecting older buildings and preventing high-rise construction has created a shortage of office space in the West End, fueling rent increases. The area, which is popular with hedge funds and includes the luxury shopping locations Bond Street and Regent Street, replaced central Hong Kong as the worlds most expensive property market, CBRE Group Inc. said on Dec. 18.

Green Oak Real Estate Advisors LLP, an adviser to the Lehman estate, sought at least 390 million pounds for the building, the person said.

Devonshire Houses tenants include Bain Capital LLC and Noble Corp., according to the companies websites.

Estates Gazette reported the news earlier today.

Ortega is the worlds third-wealthiest person with a net worth of $64 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Gower in London at pgower@bloomberg.net; David M. Levitt in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net; Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net

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Billionaire Ortega Said to Pay $670 Million for London Building