Prudential joins Honua to launch bid for Falck area

Troubled Italian property firm Risanamento is in talks with Korean investment firm Honua Group to sell its vast Falck redevelopment site in Milan's Sesto San Giovanni district, well-informed market sources confirmed to PropertyEU. According to Italian papers, the Korean group is partnering with American investor Prudential to launch a EUR 480 mln bid for the area located south of Milan.

In early March Risanamento announced the start of negotiations with a group of investors to divest the Falck area. The potential buyer has signed a confidentiality agreement while a binding accord has yet to be reached, Risanamento added.

This is the second attempt by the Milan-listed developer to sell the massive project, after aborted talks last year with Dubai's sovereign wealth fund Limitless to sell the site for EUR 475 mln. Risanamento, which also owns the Milano Santa Giulia project, has been on the verge of bankruptcy for over six months after a state prosecutor in July put forward a request to declare the real estate developer bankrupt.

In November last year a Milan court gave the long-awaited go-ahead for the restructuring of the company, ruling that a EUR 500 mln debt restructuring programme and the issue of EUR 350 mln of convertible bonds were sufficient to keep the company afloat in the near future.