Business park owner in £300m buyout

Jun 10 2008 by Barry Turnbull, Liverpool Daily Post

THE company behind Liverpool’s biggest speculative development could be sold in a £300m deal.

Gazeley, owner of the huge G-Park business park, at Gillmoss, is in line to be acquired by D ubai World from Asda Wal-Mart.

Gazeley is currently carrying out a phased development of 360,000 sq ft at Gillmoss which also includes a huge expansion of the headquarters of Home Bargains discount chain owner TJ Morris.

Wal-Mart has picked a potentially difficult time to sell a property business, but Andy Bond, president and chief executive of Asda, said: “This is not a core business for us. We have previously had several unsolicited approaches for Gazeley and have now decided to review our strategic options.

“For Gazeley to maintain and extend its market leadership, we believe it should be part of an organisation that specialises in property development and investment, which can better support its international growth.”

Experts had valued the business at £400m but in the current economic climate that sum seems unlikely to be achieved.

Gazeley is one of the largest industrial property developers in the UK, and also operates in a number of other countries, including India, Mexico and China. It was acquired by Wal-Mart as part of the American group’s takeover of Asda in 1999.

Formed in 1987, Gazeley operates as a standalone business, but also provides Wal-Mart and Asda with distribution and storage warehouses across the world.

The acquisition by Dubai World is expected to go through shortly.

Middle Eastern cash is seen as key in the UK with traditional investors struggling to raise debt funding.

Dubai World is the commercial capital arm of the country’s government.

barry.turnbull