US indices group MSCI acquires property specialist IPD for £78m October 31, 2012 US INDICES group MSCI has agreed to buy Investment Property Databank (IPD), a private company that provides crucial information for the property industry, in a £78m deal. The sale will generate a huge windfall for IPD’s founders Rupert Nabarro and Ian Cullen, who set up the company 27 years ago. The pair will share £26m [...]
A tale of two cities December 17, 2012 BRITISH Land and Oxford Properties have bagged their second tenant at the Cheesegrater skyscraper in the City, underlining the booming demand in London’s insurance district in stark contrast to parts of the City that have traditionally depended on the banking sector. Amlin is to take 111,000 square feet at the Leadenhall Building for an undisclosed [...]
Economic data picks up but the Bank must clarify its position on inflation August 6, 2013 THIS week has seen a further significant pick-up in the economic data. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed services output in July rising at the fastest pace since the boom-times of 2006. The “composite PMI” (which includes manufacturing and construction as well as services) rose at its fastest ever recorded rate since the index [...]
Inside Africa’s megacity: God, oil, and traffic chaos in Lagos November 29, 2013 From the Nollywood film industry to shanty-dwellers with a line in tech imports, Nigeria’s biggest city reveals its secrets to Alex Dymoke NO ONE knows quite how many people live in Lagos. Nigeria’s 2006 census put the official figure at just under 8m. The UN estimated the number for 2011 at 11.2m. Others say it’s [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE BRITISH LAND’S QUARTERLY RESULTS ON TRACK? February 9, 2012 JAMES CARSWELL | PEEL HUNT We think retail, operationally, performed well, but the small valuation declines might be further signs of things to come. Their development pipeline is very well de-risked. They have de-risked over 50 per cent through pre-lets like Aon which is clearly a huge advantage over their competitors. ALISON WATSON | LIBERUM [...]
Alternative Orlando is blooming August 18, 2013 There is more to the Sunshine State’s theme-park capital than Disney Land I WAS in Orlando for the Florida Film Festival. A film I had produced called The North London Book of the Dead was in the British Shorts Now! programme. Great, right? Except… Orlando? Seriously? It’s hardly renowned for its thriving arts scene. But [...]
Bottom Line: The pub group’s grim warnings failed to land a knockout blow January 15, 2014 THAT’S not the way to do it. Punch Taverns was well aware of the problem some of its lenders had with its restructuring plan as set out in December last year. Yesterday, it tried to bludgeon the opposition, announcing proposals it called final, the result of 14 months of engagement. Setting out certain concessions, it [...]
Sir John Ritblat latest to launch a retail bond November 27, 2012 SCHOOLS provider Alpha Plus, chaired by property grandee Sir John Ritblat, yesterday became the latest company to tap the retail bond market to help raise £40m and pay down shareholder debt. The group, owned by Delancey’s DV4 fund, announced plans to launch a seven-year retail bond paying 5.75 per cent and secured against part of [...]
Grid star Irvine lands six-month prison sentence January 9, 2014 FORMER Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine has been sentenced to six months in prison following a conviction for his part in a brawl in a Milan nightclub in 2008. The 48-year-old, who spent nine years as a Formula One star, was found guilty along with Gabriele Moratti, the son of a former Milan mayor, of causing [...]
BEST of the BROKERS August 23, 2012 BRITISH LAND Jefferies has downgraded a whole pack of retail estate investment trusts, stating that they “are no longer excessively cheap”. British Land is moved from “Buy” to “Hold” despite the target price being held at 552p. “Low vacancy rate and broadly rack-rented portfolio combine to constrain organic earnings growth,” it said. ELEKTA UBS has [...]