Sale and leaseback of HQ

HSBC Holdings PLC
30 April 2007

                         HSBC AGREES SALE AND LEASEBACK
                             OF GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS

HSBC has agreed the sale and leaseback of its head office building in Canary
Wharf, London for £1.09 billion, the largest single property deal in UK history^.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Metrovacesa, S.A., one of Europe's most respected
property companies, and HSBC have exchanged contracts on the deal which sees the
bank retain full control of occupancy while Metrovacesa takes a 998-year lease.
HSBC has leased the building back for 20 years at an annual rent of £43.5
million with an option to extend for a further five years.

HSBC's 1.1 million square foot, 210-metre high, tower at 8 Canada Square will
remain the Group's global headquarters. HSBC has been headquartered in London
since 1993 and announced plans for the new head office building in 1998. It
moved in, in 2002, having incurred some £500 million in construction costs. The
building houses 8,000 staff, and includes advanced facilities, such as a gym
that occupies an entire floor, dining rooms, shops and a medical centre.

HSBC, which became the first bank to go 'carbon neutral', in 2005, last year
achieved an overall rating of 'Excellent' for the head office building from the
Building Research Establishment (BRE), the UK's leading environmental standards
authority. This was the first time that any building in the Canary Wharf
development had received the highest possible rating for site management. Key to
the building's design is the use of energy efficient systems and practices.                         

David Hodgkinson, Group Chief Operating Officer of HSBC Holdings plc, said:
"London is one of the great crossroads of the world and there is no better place
for HSBC, the world's local bank, to be headquartered. This is a good
opportunity for HSBC to manage its property assets effectively and we're pleased
to do so with the assistance of Metrovacesa, one of Europe's pre-eminent
property companies."

Jesus Garcia de Ponga, deputy to the Chairman of Metrovacesa, commented: "We are
delighted to have reached agreement with HSBC on this landmark deal for
Metrovacesa. The acquisition of the HSBC global headquarters through this sale
and leaseback transaction is evidence of our commitment to establish a
significant presence in major international cities such as London and thereby
achieve our aim to be one of the world's leading international real estate
investors.

"The iconic status of the building, its 'best in class' environmental
credentials and the strength of the HSBC covenant made this a compelling
investment opportunity for us. We look forward to building a strong ongoing
relationship with HSBC, both as our tenant and as a partner."

The deal is expected to complete in the first half of 2007. CB Richard Ellis and
Freshfields acted for HSBC, and Colliers International in Spain, Colliers CRE
and Clifford Chance acted for Metrovacesa.

Footnote

^ By value of deal for a single property in the UK.

Notes to editors:

Photographs
Photographs of HSBC's head office building at 8 Canada Square are available from
the HSBC and Tamesis contacts listed above.

HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc serves over 125 million customers worldwide through around
10,000 offices in 82 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific
region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of some US$1,861
billion at 31 December 2006, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and
financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's
local bank'.

Metrovacesa, S.A.
Metrovacesa is currently one of the largest quoted real estate companies in
Europe and a market leader in Continental Europe's real estate market.
Metrovacesa key figures as of 2006 are as follows (more details at
www.metrovacesa.es):

Figures in euros (billions)
GAV 20.116
NAV 7.272
EBITDA 2.810
Net Profit 1.792
2006 Investments 2.620

There will be a spin off of Metrovacesa in the near future, the result of which
will be Cresa controlling circa 80 per cent of Metrovacesa (representing nearly
€10 billion worth of assets after the spin off). This transaction will be
completed within the next few months.

                                  


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