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KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd has clarified it had only made a conditional non-binding preliminary offer worth £262 million for the senior debt facilities, swap exposure and other related claims in the Battersea power station site and its holding company.
The group had instructed its investment advisor to submit the offer to Lloyds Banking Group Plc and the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) on Nov 18, it said in a statement on Thursday, Nov 24.
It was reported earlier that the group was in talks to take a majority stake in the power station, which was decommissioned in 1983, and bankroll its redevelopment, estimated at £5.5 billion.
The site is currently owned by Ireland's Real Estate Opportunities and it was reported that the group was looking for an investor to repay the money owed and revive the project, which would entail the development of 3,400 homes, a conference centre, 10 million sq ft of offices and retail spaces on the 38-acre site.
S P Setia added that the offer was contingent on "satisfactory results from a technical, environmental, financial, corporate, tax and legal due diligence exercise to be carried out on the opportunity" and results of the exercise to be presented to and approved by S P Setia's board of directors and shareholders, it added.
"Our preliminary offer was made in the ordinary course of the group’s activities to always seek out good opportunities in both local and selected international markets to expand the group’s operations.
"Whilst NAMA and Lloyds have informed S P Setia via a letter dated Nov 23 that they do not intend to engage further on the preliminary offer at this stage, we still firmly believe that property development prospects in London are positive," it said.
S P Setia added that it would keep looking for more opportunities to invest through strategic partnerships and acquisition of land in "this exciting market".
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