The National Pension Service (NPS), Korea’s state-run pension fund operator, said Sunday it signed a contract with HSBC on Nov. 13 to acquire the latter’s headquarters building in London for 772.5 million pounds (1.49 trillion won).

NPS has been tapped as the new owner of the building as bidder that can meet the cashpayment condition was sought. The purchase contract includes an 18-year lease contract in which NPS is projected to earn little more than 46 million pounds every year, 6 percent of the sales price.

The HSBC tower was sold to a Spanish property company for 1.1 billion pounds in 2007, but the 42-story skyscraper was resold to HSBC for 840 million pounds after the market crash.

The pension fund has said it plans to make a foray into the property markets of New York, London, Paris and Sydney in a bid to seek higher but stable returns.

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr