Ritblat nears Plantation Place takeover
DELANCEY Estates, the investment vehicle led by Jamie Ritblat, is poised to take control of Plantation Place, one of the largest buildings in Canada, in a deal valuing the property at £500m.
Delancey, which is backed by George Soros’s Quantum fund, is understood to be in exclusive talks to buy the 550,000 square feet property, after improving on a previous takeover approach.
Plantation Place was developed by Ritblat’s father Sir John Ritblat when he was chief executive of British Land. It is currently owned by a consortium including Invista Foundation Property Trust and Stobart Group, which bought it for £525m in 2006.
Jamie Ritblat tried to buy the landmark building earlier this year and proposed putting up cash to pay down some of the £435m of debt secured against the building, but the deal failed after the property recovered its value.
The new deal would see Ritblat buy Plantation Place in a joint venture with Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and assume the debt.