Three preliminary bids for Trillium, the property outsourcing arm of Land Securities, have come in below a £1.4bn (EUR 1.8bn) valuation, according to a report in PropertyWeek, increasing the likelihood that the UK company could go forward with an alternative to float Trillium on the stock exchange at a later date.
Three preliminary bids for Trillium, the property outsourcing arm of Land Securities, have come in below a £1.4bn (EUR 1.8bn) valuation, according to a report in PropertyWeek, increasing the likelihood that the UK company could go forward with an alternative to float Trillium on the stock exchange at a later date.
Land Securities spokesman Donal McCabe said the company does not comment on speculation. 'We made it quite clear in February that we had a dual-track process,' McCabe said. 'We are preparing to float Trillium but also exploring the possibility of a sale.'
Land Securities has not commented on the names of specific bidders. PropertyWeek said that there are now three bidders for Trillium: Goldman Sachs' Whitehall fund, which might team up with Lend Lease rival property outsourcing firm Telereal and private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners. Property Week said that their three offers were presented last week and all came in below £1bn, while final bids due at mid-June are not expected to exceed that figure either. The publication attributed the low bid prices to falling UK property values and the fact that the credit crunch has made it more difficult for bidders to raise enough debt to pay for the price tag.
