Real Estate

HVB real estate spin-off reduces investor risks

22 Sep 2003

The German bank is about to push most but not all of its troubled commercial lending portfolio into the new real estate unit. Greater operational focus is one benefit. But the bigger gain is that the demerger cuts the risk that HVB will be brought down by bad loans.

Canary Wharf bid deadline approaches

20 Aug 2003

The property group wants bids before the end of August. Yet its assets are due to be revalued in September, most probably downward. The independent directors assessing the bids face a tough task: how to extract a fat offer when the share price hangs over an abyss?

Latest rumour: HSBC to buy Bradford & Bingley

9 Jul 2003

Bid rumours are tenapenny in UK mortgage banking; but actual bids are rare. This one may be true or not but a shakeup is on the cards for mortgage banks.

ACS gets the better of Dragados

3 Jul 2003

That coup d etat means Dragados shareholders will never know whether someone else would have paid them more. Not surprisingly, the share ratio in this longexpected construction merger favours ACS, which crept into control a year ago.

UK property bears feast on B&B’s woes

27 Jun 2003

Bradford & Bingley's warning about a slowdown in housing transactions is ringing alarm bells. B&B is less exposed to London and the south. Its remarks suggest the slowdown may be countrywide.

Morgan Stanley may bid for Canary Wharf

6 Jun 2003

Why would anybody want to take the highly leveraged skyscraper group private when commercial rents are still plunging? Because credibility has been shot to bits. All the more reason why management shouldn t be able to buy it on the cheap.

Property fuels UK retail M&A bubble

2 Jun 2003

Booming retail property values inflate offers for assets like Selfridges, and compensate property firms for an office rent crisis. But property values are only a reflection of the underlying businesses' ability to pay rent. The consumer boom will not go on for ever.

Property bids say nuts to NAV

22 May 2003

The UK property sector is bustling with bid stories at outfits like Canary Wharf and Chelsfield. If they have any significance, it's because valuing property firms on their net asset value doesn't work.

Caltagirone’s bid for Metrovacesa fails

22 Apr 2003

The Italian financier had the right idea in bidding for the Spanish property group when its dominant shareholder was powerless to respond. But the strategy was poorly executed, and Metrovacesa's minority shareholders are left with only one consolation prize.

Spanish shareholders see chance for better treatment

28 Mar 2003

In Spain, a shareholder with a 25% stake could normally expect to control the company disadvantaging other investors. But the current battle for Metrovacesca gives shareholders an opportunity to change this accepted wisdom.

Investors want FSA to probe Canary Wharf

20 Mar 2003

Angry shareholders want London's regulator to probe the way the property developer discloses agreements with its tenants. In doing so, they are asking the FSA to tick off its own landlord.

Canary Wharf falls down

12 Mar 2003

Investors have knocked 27% off the developer thanks to its revelations about how bad the lettings market is. This is just one symptom of the crunch in London property. Past speculative building booms have taught property investors little.

Spanish corporate governance bows out, again

7 Mar 2003

Minority shareholders have already been trounced once by lowball bids in Spain s property takeover frenzy. Now it looks as though they re being stitchedup again. Suspicions of concert action in one of the bids are rife.

Moguls’ sons make phantom bids

19 Feb 2003

Fatherson rivalry may have motivated two recent bid approaches. First Richard Li tried to prove himself with a proposed bid for C&W. Then Tony Pidgley Jnr had a similar idea except he actually thought of tilting at his father s own business. Both bids have proved flaky.

Berkeley Group could face conflict of interest

18 Feb 2003

Tony Pidgley Jr is mulling a bid for the homebuilder founded and run by his father. An auction of the company would be the fairest way to go.

Vallehermoso in talks to merge with Sacyr

27 Jan 2003

Talk about a stitchup! Sacyr is Vallehermoso's controlling shareholder. It will take a lot to convince it's getting a fair deal. Terms are fuzzy, but it looks like Vallehermoso will offer E1.2bn in stock to acquire unlisted and unknown Sacyr.

Bank of England worried about house prices

20 Nov 2002

But investors in UK mortgage banks don t seem to be even though the last time house prices rose at a 30% clip was in 1989. A correction that is a fraction of the house price slump then could hit bank earnings hard.

Bank of England worried about house prices

20 Nov 2002

Backing away from the trough

20 Jun 2002

Homing in on Pirelli

13 Jun 2002