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BT Group has agreed to sell the BT Tower in London to MCR Hotels for £275mn, the UK telecoms group said on Wednesday.

The building, opened as the Post Office Tower in 1965 by prime minister Harold Wilson, will be retained “as an iconic hotel, securing its place as a London landmark for the future”, BT said.

MCR is a US-based hotel owner and operator with a $5bn portfolio of independent and branded hotels including the TWA, Sheraton Times Square and Lexington hotels in New York.

BT said network operations traditionally provided by the tower had migrated to other systems. The tower’s microwave aerials, used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the UK, were removed more than a decade ago, it said.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson unveils a plaque commemorating the opening of the then-named Post Office Tower in London on October 8, 1965, watched by postmaster general Anthony Wedgwood Benn and Earl Clement Attlee
Prime Minister Harold Wilson unveils a plaque commemorating the opening of the then-named Post Office Tower in London on October 8, 1965, watched by postmaster general Anthony Wedgwood Benn and Earl Clement Attlee © Victor Boynton/AP

The group added that payment for the sale would be made over multiple years, as its equipment is progressively removed from the building, with final payment on completion of the purchase.

More to follow . . .

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