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•   Property
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  • Joint Venture Developments
  • Retail Development

 

Whilst there have been numerous transactions, the more significant of these are:

2008

• March 2008, planning permission has been granted for three mixed use buildings designed by Foster & Partners to be located on London’s Albert Embankment, adjacent to the newly-constructed Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel on the River Thames. They will have an area of 342,000 sq ft with the tallest building consisting of 27 storeys. The development will replace the present 1960’s office building, Hampton House.

• March 2008, we formed a 50:50 joint venture with Park Plaza Hotels Limited to develop a new apart-hotel and leisure destination under the 'art'otel' brand in Hoxton, in the City of London.

• January 2008, work has commenced on the construction of the mixed-use Merchant Square development at Paddington, which will provide in excess of 2,000,000 (2 million) sq ft of office space, residential units, hotel and leisure facilities in the heart of Westminster.

2007

• October 2007, Reuben Brothers invested in Silverjet, the UK-based all-business class airline, through issuance of a convertible bond.
  
  
• July 2007, we acquired Oxford Airport, located 40 miles from London and 6 miles from Oxford city centre. Significant works have recently been undertaken that will enable Oxford Airport to become a major player in the provision of top quality business and general aviation services. The airport is now owned in a joint venture with Dawnay Day.
  
  
• June 2007, three prime UK data centres were acquired, which will expand the Global Switch Data Centre business by an additional c. 170,000 sq ft. Global Switch is now 100% owned following the acquisition of Morley Fund Management’s 25% interest. Global Switch is the foremost European and Asia / Pacific Data centre business consisting of around 3,000,000 (3 million) sq ft of Freehold state of the art data centres situated in UK, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Singapore and Australia.
  
  
• April 2007, we acquired Northern Racing plc, the publicly-listed racecourse company, in a c. £90,000,000 (£90 million) deal. Northern Racing owns nine racecourses in the UK and accounts for c. 15% of all racecourses in the UK. In the same sector, we have a substantial minority stake in Arena Leisure, the owner of seven UK racecourses.
  
  
• March 2007, Reuben Brothers have joint control with the Bank of Scotland of McCarthy & Stone, the construction company we took private in October 2006 in a £1,200,000,000 (£1.2 billion) transaction. We have 50% of the mezzanine and 39% of the PIK, which is the largest slice. Reuben Brothers and the Bank of Scotland each own 20% of the equity. Other shareholders that have taken equity stakes in the company are West Coast Capital (8.3%), Lehman Brothers (20%), ELQ Investors Limited (Goldman Sachs Private Equity) (8.3%), Richard Desmond (6.7%), Petrofac (6.7%), Michael Lewis (6.7%) and Prestbury (3.3%).
  
  
• February 2007, we underwrote, together with Dawnay Day, a £25,000,000 (£25 million) rights issue by Ultimate Leisure Group, the publicly-quoted bar and nightclub operator, to increase our shareholding in the group to 32.5%. It is Ultimate Leisure Group’s intention to use this capital for further acquisition opportunities to take the group forward to the next stage of its development.
  
  

• December 2006, we completed the purchase of a c. 235,000 sq ft mixed-use building in a prime Oxford Street Mayfair location. The building, Hereford House, includes the c. 122,000 sq ft flagship London Primark store, as well as c. 51,000 sq ft of offices, c. 52,000 sq ft of leisure and c. 10,000 sq ft of retail.
  
  
• October 2006, Reuben Brothers initiated, through Augusta Capital, the takeover of the publicly-quoted company McCarthy & Stone for £1,200,000,000 (£1.2 billion). Reuben Brothers formed a consortium with the Bank of Scotland and Sir Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital. Reuben Brothers have, jointly with the Bank of Scotland, underwritten 100% of the Mezzanine financing on McCarthy & Stone.
  
  
• September 2006, we set up with Deutsche Bank a €1,000,000,000 (€1 billion) predominantly retail property joint venture primarily investing in Germany. We asset manage jointly with Deutsche Bank and have a 25% stake in the fund alongside Deutsche Bank and other financial investors.
  
  
• June 2006, the sale of our 50% holdings in Stratford City Developments Limited ("SCDL") for the sum of £110 million. SCDL are involved in a £4,000,000,000 (£4 billion) development in Stratford.
  
  
• June 2006, we formed a 50:50 joint venture with the Bank of Scotland in Sapphire Retail Fund, in which we had a 90% interest. Sapphire Retail Fund comprises three shopping centres across the UK , totalling some 1.3 million sq. ft.
  
  
• April 2006, in a joint venture with Aerium FGG Capital, we completed the acquisition of a retail portfolio spread across Germany in excess of €380,000,000 (€380 million), which is leased back to C&A. 
  
  
• May 2006, agreed to pay Multiplex £82,500,000 (£82.5 million) for their interest in several assets held jointly with us.
  
  
• February 2006, in a Joint Venture with the Bank of Scotland, the acquisition from British Land of 1,500 residential units spread across the United Kingdom.
  
  
• January 2006, we gained control of Global Switch by buying out Multiplex's interest, giving us a 75% interest in all European assets and a 100% interest in the Singapore and Australia assets. Global Switch is the foremost European and Asia / Pacific Data centre business consisting of over 2,800,000 (2.8 million) sq. ft. of Freehold state of the art data centres situated in UK, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Singapore and Australia.
  
  

• September 2005, in a joint venture with Multiplex, we agreed to carry out the c. 612,000 sq ft. devloplment, already commenced, of the Eden Centre (formerly Octagon Centre), in High Wycombe town centre, financed by Royal Bank of Scotland.
  
  
• August 2005, we built up a 29.5% stake in Ultimate Leisure Group, the bar and club operator. Ultimate Leisure Group is a publicly-quoted company and is the predominant bar and club operator with assets spread over the North and North-East of England .
  
  
• June 2005, in association with a consortium of investors, financing the acquisition of land and the building of hypermarkets in Romania , totalling some 60-70,000 sq. ft.
  
  
• June 2005 and December 2005, the acquisition of 9 and subsequently 17 single and multi-tenanted retail centres spread across Germany in places such as Berlin and Leverkusen .
  
  
• In 2005 we concentrated our acquisitions in Western and Central Europe - in Germany , Romania and in France , with the acquisition of a large portfolio of properties with substantial holdings in the Champagne region. Our acquisitions in these regions have a value of several hundred million Euros.
  
  
• January 2005, in a 50/50 joint venture with Multiplex, an agreement was entered into with the Gibraltar Government to carry out a development of approximately 6,000,000 (6 million) sq. ft. in Gibraltar Eastside.
  
  
• January 2005, jointly with West Coast Capital, Bank of Scotland and Prestbury, a sale and leaseback arrangement on a portfolio of 135 Travelodge properties valued in October 2004 at c. £405,000,000 (£405 million).
  
  

• August 2004, the acquisition of the Wellington Pub Company from Sun Capital and Hugh Osmond. Wellington has approximately 840 tenanted pubs, mainly in the South-East of England , and is the largest Free of Tie pub estate.
  
  
• October 2004. Joint bid with Multiplex and Westfield for Chelsfield/Duelguide. The successful transaction provided the Chelsfield investors with a 45% profit on their investments. We have subsequently been working closely with our consortium partners to realise maximum value for the Chelsfield assets.
  
  
• May 2004, in association with a consortium of investors including the Bank of Scotland and Multiplex, the management buy-out of Chelsfield plc. This resulted in us becoming the largest shareholders with a stake of 35%. We also invested approximately £108,000,000 (£108 million) of mezzanine finance, representing 35% of the total mezzanine provided.
  
  
• March 2004, with West Coast Capital, Bank of Scotland and Prestbury, the acquisition of a £500,000,000 (£500 million) portfolio of 220 pubs, which are leased back to Spirit for 30 years.
  
  

• August 2003, jointly with West Coast Capital and Bank of Scotland the purchase of a portfolio of shopping centres in excess of £310,000,000 (£310 million).
  
  
• May 2003, financing the acquisition of a 50.4% stake in ERMEWA, a rail freight business headquartered in Switzerland . SNCF, the French railway company is the owner of the remaining 49.6%. ERMEWA is one of the world's leading tanker container companies and the largest of its kind in Europe . It is the second largest tank container rental company in the world.
  

The Reuben Brothers have provided mezzanine finance in a number of other deals, and continue to welcome opportunities to provide such financing in the future.