Battersea Power Station has been sold to a Malaysian company for £400m.

The sale, to SP Setia, Sime Darby and the Employees’ Pension Fund of Malaysia, was announced last night by joint sales advisers, Knight Frank and Ernst & Young Real Estate Corporate Finance.

They were to sell the iconic 39.1-acre site on the open market following the collapse last year of a plan to redevelop the site. The SP Setia consortium, which has now exchanged contracts on the deal, beat off competition from around the world - including Chelsea FC - to secure the site, the last large plot of land available for redevelopment in central London.

Fergal O’Reilly, director at Ernst & Young, said: "The international marketing campaign has achieved a fantastic result, which some thought unlikely if not impossible, returning a number of highly credible bids from across the globe, and ultimately resulting in an exchange of contracts with the SP Setia consortium.

"The sale of Battersea Power Station (BPS) is testament to the continuing draw of London as a centre for global investment."

Stephan Miles-Brown, head of residential development at Knight Frank, said: "Throughout the six-month marketing process, which attracted investors from countries as diverse as Kazakhstan, South Africa, China, Indonesia and Brazil, we enjoyed excellent support and encouragement from all key stakeholders, in particular the London Borough of Wandsworth, the Mayor’s office, Transport for London, and English Heritage.

"We have now found a skilled and extremely professional purchaser who we feel can take on this site and produce the best result for London – the redevelopment of a prominent, listed building at a prime, waterfront location.

"The finished scheme will be the jewel in the crown of the Nine Elms Development. Knight Frank and Ernst & Young have relished their roles in selling an icon and will observe its development with great interest."

The current planning consent has provision for 3,500 homes and 1.7 million square feet of office space, as well as for hotel and retail units.

It will also provide London with two new Underground stations, extensions from the Northern line.