Property firm in debt deal

REAL Estate Opportunities (REO) – the international property development firm controlled by Treasury Holdings – has moved closer to a total restructuring of its debt linked with its purchase of the Battersea Power Station site in London.

REO is planning to spin off the asset from its Irish business portfolio and float it as a separate listed business by the end of this year, and is currently in the midst of restructuring loan repayment deadlines with various creditors, outstanding from its €595 million purchase of the 38-acre site from the Victor Hwang-owned Oriental Properties in 2006.

A big step, in that regard, was completed yesterday with REO announcing that it has reached agreement with Mr Hwang to defer the repayment of £150m (€171m) of loan notes and due interest until May 31, 2011. The earlier repayment extension to the end of next August – concerning £225m in loans – to REO’s banks (specifically, Bank of Scotland and Bank of Ireland) and the National Asset Management Agency announced in August, was dependent on the company reaching a similar agreement with Mr Hwang.