MINERVA, the property company behind plans to build the City of London’s tallest skyscraper, has extended the deadline for bids for the company until September 20, after a late surge in takeover interest from potential buyers.
The company is believed to have received about 20 expressions of interest — with an estimated five parties coming into the frame in the past few days.
Companies that have requested information on Minerva include a string of the biggest names in property.
Sources close to the process said that Canary Wharf, the docklands developer that was recently taken over by Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate Fund and British Land, the UK’s second-biggest quoted property company are on the list of parties that have requested information.
Other interested players are thought to include Blackstone, the US buyout company, Multiplex, the Australian construction company, Hines, a US developer, Westfield, the Australian shopping centre developer, and CGI, a German fund.
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Despite the apparent strong interest, market observers remain sceptical that Minerva will achieve a high bid price because in reality only a limited number of players have the firepower to do a deal.
Analysts estimate that any serious bidder would need at least £500 million of equity to complete a takeover, because a large percentage of the value in Minerva is tied up in three large deveopment sites that are non-income-producing, against which it would be hard to secure debt financing.
Property experts have also cast doubt over whether some of the parties that have requested information — such as British Land — are seriously interested in bidding for Minerva.
Analysts are betting that the most likely purchaser will be a consortium of private property developers, or an international player that is keen to make its mark in the UK.
Minerva has recently revalued its property portfolio, which is expected to have risen in value following the receipt of planning permission for a proposed one million sq ft tower in the City and its Park Place shopping centre development in Croydon.
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It is expected that the company’s revised net asset value per share will be somewhere between 350p and 370p, valuing the company at in excess of £560 million, excluding debt.