Ronson project makes first deal
LONDON property tycoon Gerald Ronson’s new investment vehicle completed its maiden purchase yesterday.
Ronson Capital Partners (RCP), “a club of like-minded partners” drawn mostly from the UK and the Middle East, has spent £63m on International House on Chiltern Street, Marylebone.
RCP aims to demolish the 12-storey tower once the existing tenants’ lease deals expire in 2014, before building a residential block on the site.
International House was previously owned by Targetfollow, the one-time owner of Centrepoint and the Can of Ham site whose subsidiaries fell into administration late last year.
“Ronson Capital Partners is pleased to have completed on our maiden investment. We are confident that RCP will become a significant name in the property sector as well as a club of which many will wish they were members,” said chief executive Jonathan Goldstein, who also acts as deputy chief for Ronson’s development firm Heron International.
Ronson himself is thought to have invested a significant sum of his own money in RCP, with his property developer Heron also injecting equity.
Investec provided a senior debt and equity package for the purchase, and said it will continue to support the venture “in this tough funding environment”.