Gladedale Homes is set to announce a debt-for-equity swap with Lloyds Banking Group ending more than two years of uncertainty for the housebuilder which has a £1bn debt pile.
Gladedale is one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, with 2,000 annual home sales.
Lloyds took on its loans when it acquired HBOS.
The bank is expected to take preference shares in the company in exchange for writing off £500m of debt.
Gladedale’s deal follows similar deals at Crest Nicholson and McCarthy & Stone.
It comes amid discussions between Lloyds and leading housebuilders about creating joint venture companies to develop the housebuilding assets that the bank has picked up via its acquisition of HBOS.
Lloyds’ investment property book is now larger than the land bank of any single UK housebuilder.
04/09/09 Financial Times 18
