EXCLUSIVE: Coworking Pioneer Bought In Prepack Administration Deal
One of the earliest entrants to the London coworking sector has been bought out of administration by its management, Bisnow can reveal.
Partners from FRP Advisory were appointed to Second Home Ltd on Christmas Eve, according to a court notice filed last week. It was bought out of administration straight away in a prepackaged deal, the company told Bisnow in a statement.
“This was our only option to keep the company alive,” Second Home CEO Jamie Apostolou said in the statement. “Second Home remains a strong brand, and our values haven’t changed. We are excited to focus on providing an inspiring environment and vibrant community for businesses to thrive.”
Second Home will continue to operate from sites in Holland Park in west London, Spitalfields in east London and Lisbon in Portugal. It also runs a book shop called Liberia next to the Spitalfields location that it hires out for events.
The company was set up in 2014 by Sam Aldenton and Rohan Silva. Silva was an adviser to former Prime Minister David Cameron.
The company raised more than £60M in venture capital and was valued at about £130M in 2019, according to Sifted. But it was losing money due to rapid expansion, and those losses increased when the pandemic arrived and shut down sites for long periods.
Second Home made losses of £16M in 2019, £23M in 2020 and £13M in 2021, according to accounts for 2021, the most recent year the company filed.
In 2022, the firm was taken over by investor Riaz Valani, and some of its debt was converted to equity. Notices at Companies House show it had fixed-charge debt owed to a company owned by Valani and to investment company Oak Investment Holdings, although the amount of debt was not specified.
In 2024, founder Silva was replaced by Jamie Apostolou as CEO. Apostolou led the closure of underperforming locations, including Los Angeles, London Fields, and Clerkenwell Green, the company said, stabilising the business with near-full occupancy at remaining sites and controlled costs. However, historical debt led to the decision to file for administration and pursue a pre-pack sale led by management. Terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
The company leases 12K SF in Holland Park. In Shoreditch, it leases 61K SF, the entire office element of the 66K SF Britannia House at 68-80 Hanbury Street.
The building is up for sale, according to marketing materials from broker Allsop, which say the building is in receivership. Land Registry documents show it is owned by Daevon Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Second Home pays a rent of £2.4M a year at £40 per SF on the Hanbury Street lease, which runs until 2034, according to the marketing documents. The building, a converted carpet factory and warehouse, also includes five apartments.
It was put on the market in October for £30M, EG reported, and it has the potential to be converted to residential uses.
