UK-listed Quintain Estates and Development is on the verge of selling a 25-asset portfolio of regional assets as part of its strategy of focusing on its London business.

UK-listed Quintain Estates and Development is on the verge of selling a 25-asset portfolio of regional assets as part of its strategy of focusing on its London business.

The UK-listed investor-developer said it was in discussions with Palace Capital on the disposal of Quintain Signal Member A, the owner of the SeQuel regional property portfolio.

The proposed price of about £40 mln (€47 mln) is 'broadly in line' with the March 2013 valuation, Quintain said.

The portfolio provides 111,000 m2 of space, more than half of which is for offices.

Palace Capital said the transaction, if it proceeds, would in fact be a 'reverse takeover' as the value of SeQuel is far greater than Palace's £2 mln portfolio of nine properties in the Cheshire towns of Crewe and Nantwich.

Palace is listed on London's junior AIM exchange and plans to raise £23 mln by issuing new shares to help fund the transaction. In addition, the company has received credit committee approval from a UK lender for a £20 mln debt facility.

The transaction is conditional on a successful equity raising, granting of the loan and the backing of Palace Capital's shareholders.