Nomura Consortium Wins Bid for British Quarters
May 18, 2011
LONDON -- A consortium led by Nomura Securities Co. of Japan won a 1.6-billion-pound ($2.5 billion) bid for married-soldiers quarters being auctioned off by Britain's Ministry of Defense. Details of the sale, Britain's largest real-estate deal and the latest in a series of government privatizations, won't be announced for several weeks. The ministry declined to name the winning bid, but people close to the auction confirmed that a consortium led by Nomura had won. The consortium includes house-builder Amec PLC, merchant bank Hambros Bank, HSBC Holdings unit Midland Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Abbey National Treasury Services, a unit of Abbey National PLC.. The consortium will receive a 999-year lease on 58,000 army properties, which it will rent back to the government on a 25-year concession. The consortium is guaranteed cash flow of more than 100 million pounds ($156.7 million) in the first year. Over time, the government will release surplus housing that the consortium can sell or redevelop. The consortium will free the government of responsibility for basic costs such as maintenance and repairs.
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