Mystery Mayfair property deals show gaps in UK transparency drive

The sale in May of a sprawling Mayfair office block, once billed as the world’s most expensive, marked the latest in a long line of big-ticket property sales in London. The roughly £100mn deal for the leasehold of 77 Grosvenor Street, now owned by Canadian investment group Brookfield, was unremarkable save for one fact: the people who ultimately stand to benefit from the sale remain private, obscured by a complex offshore ownership structure. A short walk from the Grosvenor Street building..