Max Property seals its first bumper deal
NICK Leslau’s new venture Max Property yesterday clinched its first deal, buying up a £245.4m portfolio of distressed industrial real estate, though the property mogul warned recession bargains in the sector remain few and far between.
Max, which raised £220m when it floated on Aim nine weeks ago in the biggest IPO of the year so far, bought the portfolio from Ernst & Young, the administrator to failed investment firm Industrious Group.
But Leslau said that the flood of bank foreclosures widely predicted in the recession has proved to be more of a trickle, thwarting investors who had hoped to reap profits from buying up the distressed assets at bargain-basement prices.
“The general consensus has been that there would be a huge amount of distressed stock put on the market, but that has not materialised,” he told City PM. “The banks don’t want to be in a situation where they are forced into big writedowns by foreclosing all over the shop.”
He added: “We still believe they are going to want to work with players they can trust, but it will take years for that value to be unlocked.”
But Leslau was keen to stress that Max is already on a quest to ferret out its next big property bargain, claiming that opportunities still exist for those prepared to seek them out.
“There are always deals around, you just have to ferret them out,” he said. “Our next investment might be in a caravan or retail park or another area of property: we will go wherever we see value.”
Leslau, who owns Prestbury Investment Holdings along with financier Nigel Wray, was ranked 438th in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, with a personal fortune of £120m.