Australian-listed developer Valad Property Group has said it is to acquire UK's Scarborough from its founder Kevin McCabe, in a transaction worth £865 mln (EUR 1.28 bn). Valad's founder and chairman, Stephen Day, said the purchase represents the 'next step in Valad's stated strategy to establish European and Australasian platforms for its operations and product offerings.'
Australian-listed developer Valad Property Group has said it is to acquire UK's Scarborough from its founder Kevin McCabe, in a transaction worth £865 mln (EUR 1.28 bn). Valad's founder and chairman, Stephen Day, said the purchase represents the 'next step in Valad's stated strategy to establish European and Australasian platforms for its operations and product offerings.'
The Sydney-based company also bought a stake in Crownstone European Properties last February. Funds under management of the enlarged group will exceed £7.1 bn, the company said in a press release. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-July 2007.
Founded in 1980, Scarborough has EUR 6 bn of property under management across five countries including France and Germany. The company owns a UK portfolio of 20 properties, a 72% stake in LSE-listed Teesland, a pan-European property funds management company with over £3.7 bn under management, as well as a 50% interest in Scarborough Continental Partners and ScEurouro, two 50/50 joint ventures with HBOS. Scarborough said it had acquired a majority stake in Teesland earlier this year with a view to creating a property platform with a pan-European focus, and that this next step will enable the group to operate on a broader international scale.
Australian property companies have already agreed this year on European acquisitions worth some EUR 1.6 bn, attracted by new investment opportunities opened in the continent by changes to European regulations on real estate investment trusts, newspaper the Financial Times said.
