The Canary Wharf business, financial and shopping district stands beyond the River Thames in London. Songbird Estates, the owner of Canary Wharf, said its adjusted net asset value climbed to 381 pence a share as of November 27.
Bloomberg
Songbird Estates said its assets are worth about 23% more than a proposed takeover offer by Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners after the company re-evaluated its holdings following the approach.
Adjusted net asset value climbed to 381 pence a share as of November 27, Songbird, the owner of London’s Canary Wharf financial district, said in a statement yesterday. That compares with an offer of 295 pence a share that Songbird rejected on November 7. Songbird said it has held talks with its suitors, though it hasn’t received a bid.
Qatar may have to offer 363 pence to 426 pence to be successful, Green Street Advisors Analyst Hemant Kotak said earlier this month. Rents have begun to rise in the Docklands office district where Canary Wharf is located and residential construction in the area is climbing.
Songbird’s real estate and land is valued at £6.84bn ($10.7bn), according to yesterday’s statement.
The Qatar fund, Songbird’s biggest shareholder, and Brookfield have until December 4 to make a new offer. Other Songbird shareholders include investor Simon Glick of New York, a unit of China Investment Corp and funds managed by Morgan Stanley.
The value of Songbird’s assets is 19.2% higher than reported on June 30 after the company asked for a new evaluation following the bid, it said. There is enough land on the estate to build 9.8mn square feet (910,000 square metres) of property, about a third of which could be used to build homes, according to the statement.
Other factors that enhance the company’s value beyond its assets include its control of the entire Canary Wharf estate, the potential development value of its land and its share of a joint venture redeveloping the Shell Centre on the south bank of the River Thames, Songbird said in the statement. The opening of a Crossrail station at Canary Wharf in 2018 is also likely to boost values and rents above current estimates, it said.
Meanwhile, Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield are unlikely to raise their offer for Songbird Estates by December 4 deadline, The Independent said, citing people familar with the matter.
