|
Dog Racing: GRA put up for sale
(The Racing Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) THE Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) has been officially put up for sale. Risk Capital Partners (RCP), owners of the six-track group since March 2005, apparently hope to double the pounds 50.3 million they paid at that time to Wembley plc for the acquisition.
Such figures clearly put into doubt the long-term future of the sport at some of the venues due to their land value.
The decision by RCP is not unexpected, although the timing has come as something of a surprise.
It apparently has been made after the venture capitalists, the investment vehicle of Channel 4's non-executive chairman Luke Johnson, received "unsolicited approaches regarding potential redevelopment on the six innercity brownfield sites, which total around 55 acres," according to Fergal O'Reilly of property consultants King Sturge Financial Services, which has been appointed as advisers in the sale.
Mention of the word redevelopment will send a shiver down the spine of anyone connected with the GRA tracks, of which Wimbledon, home of the Blue Square Greyhound Derby, is the flagship, albeit a somewhat dated one in desperate need of investment.
However, O'Reilly did also point to the financial well-being of the business, stating: "This instruction represents a rare opportunity for a buyer to acquire a profitable business supported by a significant upside from the underlying land values."
Tim Wright, a partner in King Sturge's residential team, said: "I anticipate a considerable amount of interest when this portfolio is brought to the market - likely to be during this month and with a price tag of in excess of pounds 100 million."
Such an estimate, even if an optimistic opening gambit, may make it unlikely that the GRA will be sold intact simply as a going greyhound concern, although there are complications in redeveloping the prime site of Wimbledon, where the local council has long been opposed to such a move, while there are also questions about the suitability of the land.
One of the issues facing RCP regarding the decision to dispose of the GRA at this time will undoubtedly have been the increase in interest rates since they made the acquisition some 30 months ago, meaning the debt taken on board then now requires more servicing, although the company was not expected to be long-term owners of the group in any case.
In the time of RCP's ownership, it is understood that profit figures for the GRA have remained at similar levels to before, with the generally depressed state of the greyhound racing market offset by some fairly severe cost-cutting, which has seen many departures from the company.
Stephen Rea, publicity spokesman for the GRA, said: "Staff have been informed of the situation, but there is no need to panic as this could take an awful long time and business will continue as normal."
In addition to Wimbledon, the GRA owns the freehold to Belle Vue (Manchester), Hall Green (Birmingham), Oxford and Portsmouth, and has a long-term leasehold with the local council at Perry Barr in Birmingham.
Copyright 2007 MGN Ltd, Source: The Financial Times Limited
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 16-18, 2008. Los Angeles, California.
