The owners of Canary Wharf are in talks with outside investors over a deal to sell a stake in its popular shopping centres as the east London financial district struggles from the impact of working from home on its vast office buildings.

Canary Wharf Group (CWG), jointly owned by the private equity firm Brookfield and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is holding talks with third parties interested in investing into the estate’s four underground shopping centres, which are valued at £887.9 million.

The talks could result in CWG forming a joint venture for the retail assets with a third party. Alternatively, CWG is considering raising fresh debt against the malls, whose tenants include Zara and Watches of Switzerland.

Since 2021, the value of CWG’s office portfolio has slumped by about £1.5 billion to £4.27 billion off the back of sharp rises in interest rates and the widespread adoption of flexible working, meaning companies no longer need such large offices.

Shobi Khan, chief executive of CWG, is seeking to recast the financial district as a “mixed use” neighbourhood, with thousands of new homes and more green space. He wants to raise fresh capital to refinance £350 million of debt that falls due in April and another £300 million maturing in 2026. CWG’s retail assets, which are 95 per cent occupied, are relative bright spots for the group, with retailers benefiting from the large numbers of wealthy finance workers in the area.

Two Canary Wharf office blocks, not owned by CWG, went into receivership last year after their owners were unable to refinance.

CWG is now locked in talks with lenders to 10 Upper Bank Street, the London headquarters of the law firm Clifford Chance, aimed at stopping that building falling into receivership. The secured loan on the 32-storey building, which is majority-owned by China Life Insurance Co, has been extended until October to give the parties time to work out a solution.

Clifford Chance is leaving 10 Upper Bank Street for a smaller headquarters in the City when its lease expires in 2028. CWG retains a 10 per cent stake in the building, which has more than £350 million of debt against it.

A CWG spokeswoman said the group had recently secured £1.5 billion of new and refinanced debt and had no refinancings on assets that it owns outright until 2029.