London’s skyline has been clouded today upon the news that the Gherkin is in receivership.
The iconic skyscraper – whose formal name is 30 St Mary Axe – was bought by German real estate company IVG Immobilien and private equity firm Evans Randall in 2007 for £600m, three years after it was built.
But IVG Immobilien filed for insolvency last year after years of struggling with growing debts.
Evans Randall has been unable to agree a new deal with IVG – despite Evans Randall announcing yesterday that it was keen to invest more in 30 St Mary Axe, as the Gherkin is formally known.
They are, though, continuing talks – but the Gherkin is now up for a partial sale.
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Deloitte announced yesterday that it will act as receiver of the Gherkin, and that “adverse interest rate and currency movements” had contributed to debts mounting up.
“The senior lenders were reluctant to appoint a receiver but felt they had no choice due to the ongoing defaults, which have remained uncured for over five years,” joint receiver and Deloitte partner Neville Kahn said.
He added that there were “concerns that the borrowers’ lack of equity in the transaction had caused their incentives to become misaligned with the lenders”.
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