Troubled UK retail REIT Intu Properties has seen its shares plummet to an all time low after Hong-Kong's Link REIT backed out of a potential bail-out.
On Monday, Intu said that Link was considering taking part in the retail landlord's emergency cash call alongside its current shareholders and other potential new investors. However news broke on Tuesday that Link had changed its mind.
In a statement, Link said: 'Link remains interested in opportunities in the UK, but our negotiations with Intu have not reached an agreement.'
Link is Asia's largest REIT by market capitalisation and recently announced plans to expand from Hong Kong and China to territories including Australia, Japan, Singapore and the UK.
Debt-laden Intu, which is trying to chip away at debts of £4.7 bn (€5.6 bn), had previously announced plans for an emergency cash call this month, alongside its annual results.
It was expected that a successful equity raise could have collected as much as £1 bn.
However, the u-turn from Link saw Intu's shares crash 31% - reversing Monday's gains - to an all time low of 11 pence. This values the company at just £163 mln. Shares were worth more than 370 pence five years ago.
The company owns 20 shopping centres in the UK and Spain. It sold almost £500 mln of assets last year and recently offloaded Intu Asturias in the Spanish town of Oviedo for €290 mln.
