Land Securities Plans
To Split in Three
by Mike Foster
From The Wall Street Journal Online
November 16, 2007
Land Securities PLC, a publicly traded property company that is one of the largest in the U.K., has confirmed plans to split itself into three listed entities, following a review requested by Chairman Paul Myners.
"The demergers will be executed when the preparatory work has been completed and only when market conditions are favorable," the company said.
The three divisions would become separate, publicly traded groups with "distinctive" characteristics.
One division would specialize in retail property. A second would cover the London office portfolio. The third group would act as Land Securities' Trillium property-outsourcing operation.
Land Securities also disclosed a 2.5% rise in adjusted, diluted net asset value to £22.36 ($46.29) a share in the six months ended Sept. 30.
Alan Carter, head of European real-estate sales at Citigroup, said the figures were positive, and that Land Securities' comments were upbeat. He warned of weakening values, particularly in the secondary property market.
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