Technical Moves Blog

LOCAL FIRMS IN ESTATES GAZETTE “RICH LIST”

LOCAL FIRMS IN THE ESTATES GAZETTE RICH LIST + TOP 10

The Estates Gazette have recently released this years Properties “Rich List” and we were pleased to see some local firms from Cambridge, Norwich, and Buntingford (N Herts) making an appearance. They may be a far cry away from the riches and wealth of the top 10 – but a positive step showing a return to form for lots of firms since the downturn. The Estates Gazette Rich List is an annual publication featuring 250 of the wealthiest people in property. The elite group is now worth a total of £87bn.

number
181                                    Kip Bertram & Family                                       £82m
                                           Rysa Lodge Residential Properties  – 2010: £80m (+£2m)

The UK’s largest independent book wholesaler was founded in a disused chicken shed in Norwich by Kip Bertram and his late mother Elise. In 1999, it was sold in a £54m deal, valuing the Bertram family stake at £35m. Bertram, 67, moved into property development and other investments. He is now worth £82m.

 205                                 Andrew & Sharon Turner                                  £69m                                                                                 Central Trust - 2010: £65m (+£4m)

The lending shortage took its toll on Central Trust, the Norwich-based financial broker, which axed up to 180 jobs in March 2009. Andrew Turner, 53, the chairman of Central Trust, is an accountant by trade. He set up the company in 1987 in a small

208                                  Paul Leach & Family                                          £66m
                                         Hubert C Leach -  New entry

Buntingford-based Leach Homes was founded by Hubert Leach, a man of high principles, who laid down strict guidelines of quality and craftsmanship. It was in 1931 whilst working as a builders merchant, that he built his own home and moved into housebuilding. Today, Paul Leach, 83, his son, leads the business in house building and commercial development. It is currently working on nine sites and work is set to start soon on another three.

Most of its sites are in the Hertfordshire area; the others are in Cambridge and Milton Keynes. Hubert C Leach, the parent company, is a pretty solid operation and made £3.1m profit on £17.2m sales in 2010. It has a very strong balance sheet, with nearly £53m of net assets and low borrowings. Other Leach family businesses we can see, including Swanfield (Hamels), together had around £10m net assets in 2010. The Leach family take little out of the businesses and we value them at around £64m, adding £2m for other assets.

211                                   Gavin Howard & Family                                    £65m
                                          Howard Investment Co - New entry

Gavin Howard, 42, has taken over from his late father in this list. The two main family property companies, Cambridge based Howard Investment Co and Howard Ventures, together had more than £65m net assets in 2010. We value the family on that figure.

229                                     James Watts & Family                                      £57m
                                            CA TP 3 -  New entry

The net assets at CA TP 3 Ltd, an oddly named Essex property operation, came in at £35.3m in 2009-10. The business is owned by James Watts, 73, and his family. Among its schemes is the Tollgate Retail Park near Colchester. The Watts family also has other smaller but separate property groups with another £22.3m of net assets in 2009-10. Property Associates is the largest, with £14.2m net assets. We reckon the Watts family should be worth £57m

 AND THE TOP 10

 Number

1,                               The Duke of Westminster                                £7,000m                                               Grosvenor Group - 2010: £6,500m (+£500m)

Grosvenor Group’s focus this year has been on reinvesting in its core London business, expanding in Asia and growing its fund management operation. It can well afford to after a spectacular turnaround in its last results, moving from a £236m loss in 2009 to a £395m profit for 2010 on the back of surging property values in its prime central London market. It also raised £125m through a bond issue earlier this year that was heavily oversubscribed by UK and US investors.
 
2.                                             Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli                          £6,870m                                                                             Crosstree Real Estate Partners - (New entry)

Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss-Italian pharmaceutical billionaire, is moving into British property by investing £500m in a private equity firm, Crosstree Real Estate Partners, which is being set up by the former UK heads of Blackstone and Starwood Capital. With debt, the company is expected to amass a £1bn UK property portfolio. It is led by Nick Lyle, former UK head of Blackstone, and Sean Arnold, former head of European acquisitions at Starwood Capital. They will invest exclusively on behalf of Bertarelli for three years, focusing on prime investments and also looking at riskier debt opportunities. Twice winner of the prestigious America’s Cup yachting race, Bertarelli, 46, makes it into this list not just for his UK investment but incompany with his wife, Kirsty, a keen athlete and former Miss UK in 1988.

 3.                                              David and Simon Reuben                                £6,180m
                                                  Global Switch - 2010: £5,432m (+£748m)

The billionaire Reuben brothers bought a prestigious Mayfair estate, which includes the former home of the In and Out Club on London’s Piccadilly, for £130m cash in June this year. The price was seen by many in the market as a steal for the sharp-witted investors after a drawn-out attempt by Lloyds Banking Group to find a buyer. The deal involved six properties that make up the 1.3-acre “Piccadilly Estate”. The Reubens, owners of Northen Racing, have also been eyeing Arena Leisure, which runs seven courses, including Lingfield Park.

4.                                                 Earl Cadogan                                                      £2,850m
                                                    Cadogan Group - 2010: £2,500m (+£350m)

The Cadogan Group turned to the bond market to raise £150m debt in January this year. City institutions were scrambling to lend the money and the offer was oversubscribed. No wonder. It was backed by some of the finest real estate assets in the world in the shape of 93 top-notch Chelsea acres. The group has fully recovered from the financial crisis and its estate is now valued at a record £3bn, above its previous high point reached in 2007. In 2010 it made a £42.3m profit on £93.5m sales and showed £2.57bn of net assets.

5.                                               Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay             £2,200m
                                                   Ellerman Investments - 2010: £1,800m (+£400m)

The Barclay brothers have been investing in hotels since the 1960s and this year saw them make a further play in the luxury end of the London market. The brothers have been building a 64% stake in the Maybourne Hotel Group in a drive to win control of its three five-star London hotels – Claridge’s, the Connaught and the Berkeley. The group was created by former property magnate Derek Quinlan after he bought the Savoy Group in 2004 and later sold the Savoy itself.

 6.                                             John Whittaker                                                   £2,075m
                                                  Peel Holdings - 2010: £1,060m (+£1,015m)

After Pinewood supported his offer of £96m in April, Whittaker won enough support from shareholders to increase his 30% stake, and two Peel Holdings directors joined the board of Pinewood in July this year. Peel now owns 71% of the company. Peel Holdings has also completed a £205m long-term commercial real estate financing deal with Aviva Commercial Finance. Whittaker, 69, sold his Trafford Centre shopping mall in Manchester in January to the quoted Capital Shopping Centres in a £1.6bn deal. Under the terms of the deal, his company Peel took shares in CSC worth £596m and joined its board. Whittaker, who nearly became a Catholic priest, went into the quarrying business before moving into property. In the 1980s, he fought a long and sometimes bitter battle to take over the Manchester Ship Canal Company, from which the Trafford Centre emerged. Whittaker has branched out into other areas including ports, airports, urban regeneration and alternative energy through his Peel operation. Peel’s net assets now stand at around £2.8bn. Whittaker’s family stake is worth around £2.04bn. Other assets should take the family to £2.075bn.

7.                                                  Eddie and Sol Zakay                                          £2,050m
                                                      Topland Group - 2010: £1,900m (+£150m)

The Zakays have been eyeing the long-awaited sale of 42 Marriott-operated hotels in the UK by Royal Bank of Scotland. The brothers are well-placed to capitalise on distressed property sales: earlier this year, they bought the Hilton Brighton Metropole for £39.25m from RBS. The ever-active brothers are not just buying hotels – they recently purchased Birmingham office block Cobalt Square for £3.8m and an office in Redruth for £2.7m. Their cash-rich Topland Group has said that it is actively seeking further deals in the secondary market.

8.                                                  Baroness Howard de Walden & Family
                                                      Howard De Walden Estates - 2010: £1,400m (+£420m)

Last year, Howard de Walden Estates raised £150m through a private placement on the bond markets. It used the cash to pay down more expensive bank debts and press on with investments such as the acquisition of 14 period buildings on Harley Street from the Crown Estate last year for £34m. The properties, set in the middle of the de Waldens’ 90-acre London estate, had not been traded in more than 470 years since the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The Howard de Walden family can afford it. Led by the 10th Baroness, 76, the eldest of four daughters of the late Lord Howard de Walden, who died in 1999, its acreage round Marylebone is now seen as a trendy area of London.

9.                                                   Mark Pears & Family                                         £1,600m
                                                       William Pears Group - 2010: £1,600m (No change)

The Pears paid £47m for the UK’s first combined portfolio of distressed secondary assets earlier this year. The family’s Telereal Trillium operation struck a deal with Lloyds Banking Group to buy 35 of the assets in the Flagstaff portfolio at a large discount. The bank had hoped to sell the entire portfolio of 38 assets, all in receivership, for around £60m.

10.                                                    John Caudwell                                                    £1,500m
                                                          Caudwell Properties - 2010: £1,400m (+£100m)

John Caudwell’s move into property is bearing fruit. In October he paid £150m for a Mayfair car park, which will be redeveloped as upmarket residential. His six small property companies showed nearly £6.7m profit on nearly £11m sales in 2009-10. Before the Mayfair deal, he had spent £80m on properties in London and elsewhere. He can easily afford to take such a gamble, having sold most of his Caudwell Group in 2006 for £1.46bn. His remaining stake netted him another £100m when the company, trading as Phones4U, was sold again in March.

The Information is from the Estates Gazette Rich List: To view the full article and comprehensive list of all 250 entrants please click here to visit their website