London’s landmark Gherkin office tower has been placed into receivership by its creditors, accountancy firm and joint receivers Deloitte said on Thursday, paving the way for a possible partial sale of the skyscraper.
Germany’s IVG Immobilien, which co-owns the 40-story tower with Evans Randall Ltd, filed for insolvency last year after years of cost overruns and mounting debt.
One of Germany’s best known property firms, IVG sought protection last year from its creditors after failing to reach an agreement over the restructuring of its debt. It has since agreed a debt-for-equity swap with its creditors.
Photo: Bloomberg
Co-owner Evans Randall said on Thursday it was ready to invest further equity into the building, but the company had been unable to agree on a new financial structure with IVG due to the German partner’s financial situation.
“The Gherkin is a strong, well-let asset and one that we are firmly minded to continue our involvement in,” a Evans Randall spokesman said, adding that discussions were continuing.
Deloitte said that adverse interest rate and currency movements had caused the Gherkin’s total debt, which is held in multiple currencies such as the Swiss franc, to increase materially since it was first issued.
“The senior lenders were reluctant to appoint a receiver, but felt they had no choice due to the ongoing defaults, which have remained uncured for over five years,” joint receiver and Deloitte partner Neville Kahn said.
There were also “concerns that the borrowers’ lack of equity in the transaction had caused their incentives to become misaligned with the lenders,” he said.
An icon of London’s skyline with its distinctive curved glass shape, which gave it its Gherkin nickname, the skyscraper was built by reinsurer Swiss Re in 2004 and was sold to IVG and Evans Randall in 2007 for ￡600 million (US$1 billion). In 2012, IVG said it was valued at ￡470 million to ￡531 million.
The building remains well-leased and in “trophy condition,” Deloitte said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS