US private equity group Lone Star has backed out of the sale of its UK residential property firm, Quintain, blaming the effects of the pandemic.
Following unsolicited approaches, Lone Star hired JP Morgan as financial adviser in 2019 to explore a sale of Quintain in a move aimed at reducing its UK exposure ahead of Brexit. Well-informed market sources say the company received ‘sensible offers’ for the business but in light of the worsening coronavirus situation decided not to go forward with a sale.
In December the company also succeeded in extending a massive £800 mln facility by three years. The loan was provided by lenders AIG Asset Management, Wells Fargo and Canadian pension fund CPPIB to fund the development of the massive Wembley Park development site in northwest London.
The 85-acre development around Wembley Stadium has outline planning permission for 8.8 million sq ft (817,000 m2) of retail and residential accommodation. The development is planned for completion by 2024, with 3,000 of the rental homes ready by 2020.
‘Lone Star looks forward to continuing to work with the Quintain team to deliver on the next development phase for Wembley Park – with an another 850 units already under construction,’ a Lone Star spokesperson said in a statement.
The project is expected to require another €1.7 bn of investment to complete.
Lone Star took over Quintain in 2015 and took it private shortly thereafter.
