This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GPT has sold its €3 billion European funds and asset management company, GPT Halverton, for a meager €2 Euros ($A3.20).
The sale is a disappointing result for GPT because it paid around $100 million for Halverton Real Estate Investment Management in July 2007 as part of its expansion into Europe with Babcock & Brown. At the time, Halverton had €1.3 billion of assets under management.
Established in September 2004 and headquartered in London, GPT Halverton operates in seven countries across Europe: Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
The business has been purchased by Internos Real Investors, a privately-owned pan-European investment manager, based in London.
The company has been sold to Internos with additional working capital, of approximately €7 million, reflecting the current loss-making position of the company and the ongoing funding requirements of the restructuring programme currently underway.
CEO Michael Cameron said GPT had considered all options in relation to GPT Halverton, including liquidation, and concluded that a sale to Internos was in the best interests of GPT and its securityholders in order to ensure a timely and cost-effective exit from the business.
“We were very pleased with the level of interest we had in the business and with the outcome of the sale process,” he added.
Cameron said at June 2009 GPT had the business valued at zero, in line with expectations of further operating losses in 2009 and 2010.
“While the sale realises only a nominal value, it removes GPT’s exposure to further losses and costs associated with the ongoing restructuring required to reduce future losses.
“The sale of the GPT Halverton business is another milestone in our strategy. Having exited the European component of the Joint Venture and the Hamburg Trust business, GPT Halverton represented our only remaining exposure to the European market. Exiting this business is a further step in simplifying the business and increasing our focus on the group’s high quality Australian assets,” he concluded.
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