Gerald Ronson’s Heron International is continuing to fight to retain control of its flagship Heron Tower City scheme before lenders pull the plug.
Talks with US private equity firm Starwood Capital over a £250m refinancing are ongoing, as Ronson and his partners, the State General Reserve of Oman and members of the Saudi royal family, try to agree terms for fresh debt to replace a £300m loan, which reached term in January.
The delays have frustrated the scheme’s lenders, including US bank Wells Fargo and Nationwide, which are now threatening to call in receivers and force a sale of the building. The 46-storey tower was completed in 2011 and is only around 60% let.
It was developed using a £370m loan led by two German banks, Hypothekenbank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, of which only £300m was used.
Wells Fargo took control of a large chunk of the debt after acquiring the UK property loan book of Hypothekenbank in July.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
