Lack of funding for London鈥檚 tallest building means contractor may habve to step in

Contractor Brookfield considered becoming a developer for its own 拢800m Pinnacle Tower, after months of funding negotiations failed to produce any new finance for the project.

The firm is understood to have offered about 拢100m to help secure continued construction on the tower, which would be the tallest building in London.

A senior source close to the project said the possibility of putting Brookfield鈥檚 money into the Pinnacle had been raised in discussions before Christmas.

However, it is understood to have decided against the move. Khalid Affara, managing director of Arab Investments, the Pinnacle鈥檚 developer, said that Brookfield was not investing in the project.

The 拢100m was a fraction of the 拢600m sought by Arab Investments from HSBC in July last year.

鈥淲hen they were talking about it, the amount of equity put up was relatively small, around 拢100m,鈥� the source said.

The tower, which will contain 970,000ft2 of office space and 30,000ft2 of retail space, is now above ground but needs further funding if it is to hit its 2013 completion date.

Brookfield was signed as the contractor for the Pinnacle in January 2009, for about 拢575m. Davis Langdon is the QS, Arup the structural engineer, and Kohn Pedersen Fox the architect.

The Australian contractor is just one arm of Brookfield Asset Management, which has over $100bn (拢62bn) of assets globally, dealing in development and investment banking as well as construction.

Over the past six months a number of possible backers have emerged from Arab Investments鈥� funding talks but no firm deal has been agreed.

Brookfield declined to comment.