Capco demerges Covent Garden and Earl’s Court businesses
Property development firm Capital & Counties (Capco) has confirmed it will separate its Covent Garden business from its troubled Earl’s Court development, which has dropped in value.
The company announced today that Covent Garden London and EC Properties will stand alone as two separately listed businesses.
Read more: Capco investment boss to quit as demerger speculation mounts.
The announcement was made in the company’s interim results for the half year to the end of June in which Capco said the value of its Earl’s Court interests had decreased 11.5 per cent to £599m.
Covent Garden has seen a 0.5 per cent increase in total property value, bringing it to £2.6bn.
Covent Garden is “of a scale and income profile” to be strongly positioned as a central London focused real estate investment trust, Capco said, while EC Properties will “optimise” the value of its land interests over time.
Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of Capco, said: “Separation of the two estates would enhance strategic flexibility, and allow each business to pursue independent strategies and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”
Read more: Capco cuts value of Earl’s Court development
Capco managing director and chief investment officer Gary Yardley left the firm at the end of last month as the company prepared to split. The demerger is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.