MORNING NEWS: Avison Young completes recapitalisation

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals. Avison Young has successfully completed a recapitalisation of the business, reducing its liabilities by half and securing new capital to advance its strategic goals. The firm was revealed to have defaulted on a $325m (£256m) senior term loan, missing principal and interest payments over the last two quarters, last month.  The anticipated default came as a direct consequence of renegotiations on the debt with majority shareholder Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The Canadian pension fund invested some $250m into the business in 2018. “This transaction marks the start of our next chapter for Avison Young,” said chief executive and chair Mark Rose. “Our financial partners recognise that our principals are the heart of our business, and this deal will drive equity value for our shareholders and principals, as well as market-based compensation in the years ahead.” UK boss Nick Walkley told EG last month that the restructuring of the debt was the “biggest and most significant part of the jigsaw puzzle” in what had been a year-long negotiation and that the business could now “focus on growing the business and getting on with the job”. Custodian REIT is desperately trying to get on with the job of acquiring Abrdn Property Income Trust. This morning it has announced that it has changed its investment management agreement with Custodian Capital to sweeten the deal for shareholders.  Elsewhere in the listed world, Supermarket Income REIT is toasting the continued strength of the grocery sector with a 10% uplift in rental income to almost £105m. Strong performance wasn’t quite enough to stop a fall in its portfolio valuation, however, which dipped by 3.2% to around £1.7bn. And in Leeds, plans to create a major new conference centre at the Royal Armouries are pushing forward on the promise of funding from central government. Details of the plans are outlined the museum’s most recent financial accounts. Royal Armouries plans to develop a £150m multi-purpose events, exhibition and conference space at the Tiltyard in Leeds.  The proposal for the 27,000 sq ft Tiltyard site, which is part of the Royal Armouries museum built in 1996 on the city’s South Bank, was highlighted in the Vision for Leeds policy paper published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities earlier this month.  And in Cannes, former prime minister of Finland Sanna Marin gave a rousing call to real estate companies on their responsibility and ability to solve the climate crisis. “Cities are at the core of tackling climate change,” she said. “City planning affects a lot… housing, transportation, a lot of jobs are in cities or nearby. And we can do a lot with transportation system, with housing, with being smart on energy – not only producing but also saving energy – building networks, building possibilities to collaborate.” All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals: Custodian alters management deal in fight for Abrdn mergerResilient grocery market boosts Supermarket REITAvison Young completes recapitalisationInfinitSpace enters Germany with latest flex dealRoyal Armouries pushes ahead with £150m exhibition centre plansBurning questions: Ask the expertReal estate at the core of tackling climate change, says former Finland PMCOMMENT: London is bursting with opportunitiesWho’s driving public/private partnerships?Hampstead village pub is top lot at Allsop auctionSocius kicks off consultation on £1bn London Cancer Hub masterplanRise in mortgage arrears (£)Morrisons’ parent company suffers £1bn loss (£)China’s treatment of local debt ‘ulcer’ threatens growth target (£)ECB to leave original Frankfurt home next year (£)Signa company failed due to illicit financial transactions, creditors allege (£)Care home developer investigated over yacht and supercar spending spree (£)Goldman says European real estate valuations nearing bottom (£)