Sources inform ''Globes'' that, less than 18 months after the debt settlement for Delek Real Estate, which resulted in the company becoming privately owned by Yitzhak Tshuva, the company has made an impressive exit. Delek Real Estate has sold the Buckingham Gate project in London to a foreign fund for £160 million (NIS 930 million), and at an estimated capital gain of £70-80 million (NIS 400-450 million). Most of the proceeds will apparently be used to repay debts to Israeli and foreign banks.
Buckingham Gate, located near Buckingham Palace, was one of Delek Real Estate's most important properties. The building was leased to the Foreign Office. The company sold the building after obtaining permits to convert it to residences. It will have 100 luxury apartments.
Delek Real Estate owned Buckingham Gate for many years. Two years ago, it acquired full rights to the project from its partners - Adv. Yitzhak Suari and real estate developer Igal Ahouvi, who owned 30% of the rights - for just $40 million, on the basis of a valuation made at the time on the property.
Central London properties are hot goods at almost any time, and Delek Real Estate sold the property at a time when there is especially strong demand for London real estate, which helped closing the deal at such a high price.
Delek Real Estate's former bondholders will not benefit from the sale. They suffered a painful 65% write-off on the company's NIS 2.15 billion debt as part of the settlement reached in September 2012.
The sale of Buckingham Gate, which continues a period of success in Tshuva's businesses, mainly through Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG). The company's huge natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean (Tamar and Leviathan), as well as a number of financial steps made with very good timing - headed by sales of shares in Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DK) and Delek Automotive Systems Ltd. (TASE: DLEA) - have boosted Delek Group's share price to an all-time high, giving a market cap of NIS 15 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 26, 2014
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