Commercial developer Advanced Business Park denied allegations on Friday of overly cozy relations between it and the London mayor's overseas promotion agency over a property project.
It also disputed claims of impropriety and said the company went through a proper and transparent tender process to get the contract to develop a 14-hectare complex of offices and shops at Royal Albert Dock in London. In May, ABP signed the $1.51 billion deal with Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.
"ABP was chosen in May 2013 because they will deliver commercial buildings, retail, leisure, residential and public open spaces," Executive Director John Miu said at a news conference at Royal Albert Dock.
Miu also said that ABP had not donated large sums to the Conservative party in advance of the deal.
It was ABP's first news conference after Britain's Channel Four News alleged that ABP, the Chinese company selected to develop the project near London City airport, had close links to London & Partners, the official business promotion company for the capital, which is partly funded by the mayor's office.
Channel 4 said that London & Partners was part of the evaluation process for bids by companies seeking to develop the dock site, which is intended as a commercial center aimed at Asian businesses.
In 2012, during the bidding process, Channel 4 said London & Partners was sharing an office in Beijing with ABP.
Neil Robinson, ABP's director of global communications, admitted that it shared offices for a period with "London & Partners, which is an agency, not a scoring mechanism, not a part of the decision-making process" and did not seek to influence the contract.
"The bidding process is long and very complex. The Greater London Authority appointed an agency to look at the financial background of all bidders, including ABP, which is fine," Robinson said.
Robinson said that ABP did nothing wrong and it has engaged a lawyer to start legal action against Channel 4.
The London Assembly launched an investigation into the matter.
Johnson has denied the deal was "fixed" for ABP and said the new business park would bring jobs to the capital, and said that in the bidding process ABP "was obviously in the lead".
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