A Slovakian-headquartered, Luxembourg-registered developer is set to make a spectacular UK debut with the acquisition of one of the City of London’s most sought-after development opportunities.
HB Reavis is under offer to buy 33 King William Street, EC4 , a 1980s office block close to Bank Station which has been earmarked for a £200m redevelopment.
The former BlackRock City headquarters building is being sold through administrators at Deloitte after the loan securing it was called in by a Co-op-led banking syndicate.
It had been owned by Topland Group special purpose vehicle Topland Nodol, which together with development managers Greycoat and Core, secured planning permission for a 220,000 sq ft John Robertson Architects-designed scheme in June 2012.
HB Reavis is understood to have been selected as preferred bidder after offering around £65m, seeing off bids from a heavyweight list of investors and developers including Canary Wharf Group, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Rockspring, Land Securities, Henderson, Quadrant Estates with KKR and Topland itself.
A statement issued by Topland in August expressed its surprise that the loan, which had been due to mature next year, had been called in on a “technical covenant breach” as the leases ran down in anticipation of redevelopment.
Sol Zakay’s company is understood to have offered the banks around £50m to buy the loan in, prior to administrators being appointed.
It also then attempted to buy the site on the open market, offering more than £60m to secure it.
While bidding for the development opportunity proved highly competitive, with several other parties including CWG and Quadrant offering in excess of £60m, a consultation on the redevelopment of Bank Station is understood to have put off some parties.
The area will be heavily affected by building works associated with the proposed new Bank Station entrance and the re-routing of the Northern Line ahead of its extension.
The proposed scheme faces onto Arthur Street which is likely to be closed for several years during the proposed works.
For Bratislava-based HB Reavis the deal represents what is thought to be the company’s first significant investment in the UK.
A press release issued by the company last month quoted chairman Ivan Chrenko as saying the company had “decided to open new branches in London and Istanbul”.
Since it was established in 1993 the group has completed office, retail and sheds developments totalling more than 7.2m sq ft in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
It employs 400 people, with equity of €860m (£728m).
Knight Frank is advising HB Reavis; Deloitte Real Estate is advising the vendor.
HB Reavis did not return requests for comment; Knight Frank and Deloitte Real Estate declined to comment.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
