Property tycoon Simon Halabi bankrupt
Simon Halabi, the property tycoon who was estimated to be worth £3bn in 2007 and whose portfolio includes London HQs of JP Morgan, Aviva and Old Mutual, has been declared bankrupt.
The bankruptcy order was made in the High Court on Tuesday over a £56.3m loan he received from failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.
The nine offices make up a £1.15bn securitisation vehicle called White Tower 2006-3, and the fall in value caused a breach of loan to value covenants that prompted creditors to call in the debt.
Loan servicers were appointed to manage the portfolio and Ernst & Young were then called in as administrators on seven of the properties after HM Revenue & Customers issued a winding-up order over unpaid tax.
The financial health of Mr Halabi has so far been difficult to establish because his control of the properties was through a web of off-shore vehicles and family trusts.
He conducted most of his business through Buckingham Securities, his property advisory company, but this was put into liquidation last August following the collapse of commercial property values across the UK.
Mr Halabi first emerged on to the UK property scene in 2000 as a backer of Irvine Sellar's Shard development in London Bridge, but sold his stake in the project to Qatari investors two years ago.
The offices held by Mr Halabi's White Tower are being marketed for sale by property agents CBRE and Knight Frank. The agents hope an initial wave of eight sales will raise around £800m, with at least £200m then coming from the most valuable property in the portfolio, Aviva Tower.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/7546381/Property-tycoon-Simon-Halabi-bankrupt.html
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