Bidders circle British Land’s Broadgate
BRITISH Land yesterday revealed it had been approached by several buyers interested in snapping up a 50 per cent stake in Broadgate, its iconic City development.
US private equity group Blackstone has been tipped to beat rivals to a share of the 16 office buildings close to Liverpool Street Station.
Yesterday finance director Graham Roberts said, “we have received offers for assets within our portfolio” but refused to be drawn further.
The group said that it was open to “bids at the right price, which would offer value to our shareholders.”
The news comes as British Land said it had minimised losses and maintained the value of over a third of its properties during the first quarter, adding its voice to optimistic murmurings in the sector.
British Land yesterday posted a pre-tax loss of £275m for the three months to 30 June, down from £987m in the last quarter and a £572m loss in the same period last year. The property firm said that 39 per cent of its assets, which are worth around £3.9bn, had either increased in value or stayed flat since March 2009.
As a result, British Land reported a smaller than expected nine per cent fall in net asset value to 361p a share.
Chairman Chris Gibson-Smith said: “These results demonstrate that British Land remains in a relatively strong position with resilient income from a well-let, prime portfolio. Our financial flexibility and scale give us competitive advantage to capitalise on opportunities.”
But despite hopes of stability, the group said it had no “short term plans” to start work on its halted “Cheesegrater” City development. Finance director Graham Roberts said: “At the moment the economics don’t work.”
In May the group secured Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi as a tenant for 30 per cent of its Ropemaker development.