Big sales from insolvent Austrian group Signa and a London developer's assets have come onto the market.
The insolvency administrator to the Signa Group announced that as part of the restructuring plan, the stake in Signa Prime Assets will be sold. The company's assets in Vienna and Innsbruck include Vienna's iconic Park Hyatt hotel in Tuchlaben in the city centre Golden Quarter.
Norbert Abel of restructuring manager Abel Rechtsanwälte said in a press release: “The structured sale of SIGNA Prime Assets GmbH starts today and is an essential part of the SIGNA Prime Selection restructuring concept. The sale is intended to realize part of the financial resources required to fulfill the desired restructuring plan in the interests of the creditors.”
In west London, interests in two assets owned by BYM Capital, which is in receivership, are for sale. Papermill House is a circa 150,000 ft 2 building in Uxbridge which was once Xerox's head office, while the Treaty Centre in Hounslow is a 478,000 ft shopping centre. BYM had entered a joint venture with Greystar to redevelop part of the centre as residential. BYM has more properties that could be sold if they cannot be refinanced.
Taking advantage of the recovery in hotels, another famous Irish hotel is in play. CBRE is scoping interest in the Morrison hotel in Dublin on behalf of its owner of three years, Zetland Capital.
German fund manager Deka was one of the buyers completing deals this week, picking up the Ruby Zoe hotel in London's Notting Hill for its Deka-ImmobilienMetroplen fund. German open-ended funds have been very quiet, but Deka said this fund has built up 'a tactical ratio of over 35% cash' and that 'these resources are now being used to make successive investments with favourable terms in what is currently a buyer's market.'
Assets in London and Munich were withdrawn from sale, with Blackstone taking a big Canary Wharf office building off the market. The US giant said it would hold onto 25 North Colonnade until the market improves. A deal nearby, for Five Churchill Place, is tipped to be going through at a 60% discount to the marketing price.
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