The property development and investment company Minerva has almost finalized a deal which will help boost its finances as it battles the hostile takeover bid by a South African investor. The sale of a building in Wigmore Street is expected to bring in funds into Minerva coffers, giving it a strong stand to present its defence.

Minerva’s major office rental property investments are concentrated in the Greater London area. During recession, when tenancy rates touched an all time low, the group was hard pressed to keep occupancy rates high in two of its developments. In addition, property values went down during the crisis. These factors eroded the NAV of the company’s shares to a rock bottom figure of 5.47 pc.

However, with the markets looking up now, the property values also have risen by 10pc since June this year. The company now quotes share NAV of 95pc, which is double of what is being offered for the takeover. These facts are being presented in a strong defence against the £85m hostile bid by Nathan Kirsch.

The sale of the Wigmore Street building will be critical in Minerva’s defence, as it will bring in another £40m into the company coffers. The building was originally valued at £39m. CEO Salamaan Hasan of Minerva expressed his hope that with the current improvement in the office space markets, Minerva can continue to make the most of opportunities to stabilise its position and ward off the takeover bid. He also said that the company is quite confident of its success as business is looking up.

About 1m square feet of the company’s available office space at The Walbrok and St. Botolphs will soon be occupied, said Hasan. In addition, Minerva is relatively debt free now, after the refinancing exercise with loans maturing only in 2012.

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