A Dutch bank will select the winner of a £180m sale-and-leaseback deal on the basis of which bidder quotes the lowest rent.
Buyers were due to submit their bids to buy ABN Amro’s headquarters in the City last Friday. The sale price for the 250,000 sq ft (23,200 sq m) building at 250 Bishopsgate, EC2, is fixed at £180m.
The six invited bidders have instead been asked to tender on the lowest rent they are prepared to accept for this price.
One of the bidders said: “It seems that the bank wants to raise money while ensuring that the parent company in Amsterdam doesn’t reap all the cash benefits of a sale and leaseback.
“By asking for competitive rents, it can keep overheads low for the operating company in London, while guaranteeing that the mother ship back in Amsterdam gets an agreed price,” he explained.
Bidders are believed to include the “usual suspects” of debt-driven investors, such as Rotch, aAIM and Irish investors.
The Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker corporate strategy team is advising ABN Amro.
Meanwhile, Tishman Speyer is close to completing the acquisition of Goldman Sachs’s headquarters at Peterborough Court on Fleet Street, EC4, for one of its funds for £280m. BH2 is advising on the sale.
Rotch is also close to the sale of the 350,000 sq ft Woodgate Exchange, EC2.
References: EGi News 25/04/05
