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The Times, UK
Oct 18 2013
Kuwait targets City Hall as part of £1.5bn property bid
by Deirdre Hipwell
Kuwait has made a knock-out bid of £1.5?billion to buy the More London
complex next to Tower Bridge, which includes the City Hall
headquarters of Boris Johnson.
In what could be Britain's biggest property deal, The Times
understands that St Martins, the property division of the Kuwaiti
Government, is in discussions to buy the 13-acre site.
More London is one of the biggest and most successful developments in
the capital. It consists of the City Hall building as well as other
properties designed by Foster & Partners and let to companies such as
Ernst & Young, PwC, Terra Firma Capital Partners and the law firm
Lawrence Graham.
The site also includes pedestrianised zones, sculptures and fountains,
the restaurant chains Gaucho Grill and Strada and a sunken
amphitheatre called The Scoop, where scenes from the series Spooks
were once filmed.
More London is owned by London Bridge Holdings - a company registered
in the Bahamas and controlled by a group of investors led by the
principal shareholder Dikran Izmirlian, an Armenian businessman.
Mr Izmirlian made his fortune in the groundnut market in The Gambia by
controlling large parts of the export and processing of peanuts and
creating a near-monopoly in the global market. The entrepreneur, who
is in his eighties, is listed as chairman of a Geneva-based
commodities trading company called Alimenta. His son, Sarkis
Izmirlian, who lives in Nassau, is developing the $3.5?billion Baha
Mar resort in the Bahamas.
If St Martins buys the complex, it would cement its ownership holdings
in the London Bridge area - a part of the capital that since the
development of More London, the Shard and The Place is becoming an
increasingly important business district.
The Kuwaiti property group already owns the Hays Galleria and Cottons
Centre, next to More London, and originally owned the land on which
the More London complex sits.
London Bridge Holdings has appointed Rothschild, the investment bank,
to advise it on its refinancing options at More London. The complex
has close to £740 million of debt, which is secured against six
buildings within the scheme and which matures next year. About £640
million of that debt was securitised by Royal Bank of Scotland in
2006.
No deal has yet been agreed with St Martins and the owners could still
decide to refinance the complex instead. It is understood that
Rothschild isexploring several detailed options for More London, which
could include new debt from banks or another securitisation. Given the
renewed appetite among banks to lend against prime assets in London, a
refinancing option could be the preferred outcome. However, at a time
of fierce overseas demand for London prime assets, a sale to St
Martins could potentially enable the owner to exit the scheme for a
better return than through a refinancing.
Nabarro and Savills are advising St Martins and Nigel Fox at Capital
Real Estate Partners has been brought in alongside Rothschild to
provide property advice on any potential sale. It is understood that
sovereign wealth funds have run the rule over the complex.
A spokesman for More London said that it did not comment on
speculation. He said that it was working with Rothschild and "was
undertaking a process to refinance its bonds due by the early summer
of 2014".
All other parties declined to comment.
At home in the capital
St Martins owns more than one million sq m of property across the
globe, focusing on prime assets in big capitals. Its holdings in
London include:
The Willis Building, one of the tallest buildings in the Square Mile
Wren House, Adelaide House, 150 Cheapside, 1 Bunhill Row, 2 Gresham
Street and 60 Threadneedle Street
5 Canada Square in Canary Wharf
Hays Galleria, a retail complex near London Bridge station
The Cottons Centre, an office complex near London Bridge Station
Oct 18 2013
Kuwait targets City Hall as part of £1.5bn property bid
by Deirdre Hipwell
Kuwait has made a knock-out bid of £1.5?billion to buy the More London
complex next to Tower Bridge, which includes the City Hall
headquarters of Boris Johnson.
In what could be Britain's biggest property deal, The Times
understands that St Martins, the property division of the Kuwaiti
Government, is in discussions to buy the 13-acre site.
More London is one of the biggest and most successful developments in
the capital. It consists of the City Hall building as well as other
properties designed by Foster & Partners and let to companies such as
Ernst & Young, PwC, Terra Firma Capital Partners and the law firm
Lawrence Graham.
The site also includes pedestrianised zones, sculptures and fountains,
the restaurant chains Gaucho Grill and Strada and a sunken
amphitheatre called The Scoop, where scenes from the series Spooks
were once filmed.
More London is owned by London Bridge Holdings - a company registered
in the Bahamas and controlled by a group of investors led by the
principal shareholder Dikran Izmirlian, an Armenian businessman.
Mr Izmirlian made his fortune in the groundnut market in The Gambia by
controlling large parts of the export and processing of peanuts and
creating a near-monopoly in the global market. The entrepreneur, who
is in his eighties, is listed as chairman of a Geneva-based
commodities trading company called Alimenta. His son, Sarkis
Izmirlian, who lives in Nassau, is developing the $3.5?billion Baha
Mar resort in the Bahamas.
If St Martins buys the complex, it would cement its ownership holdings
in the London Bridge area - a part of the capital that since the
development of More London, the Shard and The Place is becoming an
increasingly important business district.
The Kuwaiti property group already owns the Hays Galleria and Cottons
Centre, next to More London, and originally owned the land on which
the More London complex sits.
London Bridge Holdings has appointed Rothschild, the investment bank,
to advise it on its refinancing options at More London. The complex
has close to £740 million of debt, which is secured against six
buildings within the scheme and which matures next year. About £640
million of that debt was securitised by Royal Bank of Scotland in
2006.
No deal has yet been agreed with St Martins and the owners could still
decide to refinance the complex instead. It is understood that
Rothschild isexploring several detailed options for More London, which
could include new debt from banks or another securitisation. Given the
renewed appetite among banks to lend against prime assets in London, a
refinancing option could be the preferred outcome. However, at a time
of fierce overseas demand for London prime assets, a sale to St
Martins could potentially enable the owner to exit the scheme for a
better return than through a refinancing.
Nabarro and Savills are advising St Martins and Nigel Fox at Capital
Real Estate Partners has been brought in alongside Rothschild to
provide property advice on any potential sale. It is understood that
sovereign wealth funds have run the rule over the complex.
A spokesman for More London said that it did not comment on
speculation. He said that it was working with Rothschild and "was
undertaking a process to refinance its bonds due by the early summer
of 2014".
All other parties declined to comment.
At home in the capital
St Martins owns more than one million sq m of property across the
globe, focusing on prime assets in big capitals. Its holdings in
London include:
The Willis Building, one of the tallest buildings in the Square Mile
Wren House, Adelaide House, 150 Cheapside, 1 Bunhill Row, 2 Gresham
Street and 60 Threadneedle Street
5 Canada Square in Canary Wharf
Hays Galleria, a retail complex near London Bridge station
The Cottons Centre, an office complex near London Bridge Station