Liberty, the department store group, has agreed a sale and leaseback deal on its Tudor-style building in London's West End, a move which could clear the way for a takeover.
The company - 68% owned by property group MWB Holdings - has exchanged contracts to sell the building for £41.5m to Sirosa Liberty, with the proceeds used to pay off its debt. Following the deal, Liberty will take a 30 year lease on the building at an initial annual rent of £2.1m. The freehold had been valued at £30.25m in December last year, so the sale price represents a premium for a prime West End site.
Sirosa is apparently a special vehicle set up to buy the building, with no link to Liberty or MWB, but rather is associated with an independent private investor.
On Friday Liberty - which had been put up for sale by MWB - said it had received several bid approaches, with private equity fund BlueGem Capital Partners said to be a frontrunner. No move is expected, however, until shareholder approval for the building disposal is given, which could take a couple of weeks.
Liberty shares are currently 7.5p higher at 302.5p.
