Ritblat nears Plantation Place takeover
DELANCEY Estates, the investment vehicle led by Jamie Ritblat, is poised to take control of Plantation Place, one of the largest buildings in the City of London, in a deal valuing the property at £500m.
Delancey, which is backed by George Soros’s Quantum fund, is understood to be in exclusive talks to buy the 550,000 square feet property, after improving on a previous takeover approach.
Plantation Place was developed by Ritblat’s father Sir John Ritblat when he was chief executive of British Land. It is currently owned by a consortium including Invista Foundation Property Trust and Stobart Group, which bought it for £525m in 2006.
Jamie Ritblat tried to buy the landmark building earlier this year and proposed putting up cash to pay down some of the £435m of debt secured against the building, but the deal failed after the property recovered its value.
The new deal would see Ritblat buy Plantation Place in a joint venture with Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and assume the debt.