Investors Circle £930M UK Property Trust

A listed UK property trust undertaking a strategic review said it has received offers from outside investors to buy the company.

Balanced Commercial Property Trust, which has a portfolio value of £928M, said in a trading statement that it would announce the results of a strategic review begun in April later this quarter. 

“The board is pleased to have received interest from a number of credible third parties who are currently reviewing information in respect of the company and its portfolio that has been provided to them,” the company said in the statement.

“The board continues to pursue actively third-party interest, alongside considering other options such as a managed wind down, as part of the strategic review.”

The company launched the review because its shares are trading at about a 25% discount to its net asset value.

EG reported earlier this month that Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital was keen to buy the company’s largest asset, the St. Christopher’s Place retail and mixed-use estate just off Oxford Street, for about £200M. 

Other large assets owned by the trust include Sears Retail Park in Solihull and Newbury Retail Park in Berkshire, both of which are valued at between £50M and £70M. 

Thirty-five percent of the company’s assets are in the retail sector and 20% are in offices. The trust aims to reduce that latter figure, and it has sold three offices, two in London and one in Manchester, for £61M since the end of the first half.

Listed companies or open-ended funds that are winding up have been a regular source of deals for investors looking for opportunities in the UK. In 2022, Elliott Management paid £940M for the Janus Henderson UK Property fund. Other funds winding up include the Lothbury Property Trust.