HK developer offers £230m for stake in UK landlord

London

HONG Kong real estate developer Samuel Tak Lee offered to buy 9.3 per cent of Shaftesbury Plc, the owner of more than 580 restaurants and stores in London's West End, as more retailers seek to expand in the UK capital.

The Lee family, whose offer is valued at almost £230 million (S$488 million) will own as much as 13.2 per cent of the landlord if the tender offer is accepted in full, according to a statement on Monday. Mr Lee had owned more than 5 per cent of the company in October last year, before reducing his stake to as low as 2.75 per cent in December.

Rents on Carnaby Street and in Seven Dials, two neighbourhoods where Shaftesbury has significant holdings, are expected to rise this year as more overseas retailers compete to open in London, broker JLL said in March. Shaftesbury may also benefit when Crossrail, the train linking central London to Heathrow airport, opens in 2018.

Mr Lee is using Orosi (UK) Ltd and Pel (UK) Ltd to bid for Shaftesbury's shares at a price of 888 pence, about 2 per cent higher than Friday's closing share price. BLOOMBERG