Minerva wins latest battle with Kirsh
Minerva, the London offices developer, has successfully defended itself from a complete change in management proposed by activist investor Nathan Kirsh.
At an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, all six of the resolutions proposed by Kirsh’s investment company KiFin were rejected overwhelmingly by independent shareholders. Mr Kirsh, who owns 29.5% of Minerva has previously failed to take control of the property company and it is suspected that this latest setback will not deter him from a further takeover attempt. However Salmaan Hasan, (Minerva CEO) is quoted as saying “the dialogue with KiFin is something we will seek. We don’t want this to carry on and we don’t want a conflict”.
Minerva (website)Â has a portfolio of high-end residential developments, office and retail assets within the companies Croydon Estate and two of the City’s largest office developments, The Walbrook and St Botolphs.
The Walbrook is a 445,000 sq ft office development designed by Internationally renowned architects Foster and Partners and was completed to shell in February 2010. With a principal entrance on Walbrook, just south of the Mansion House, the building is equidistant from Bank and Cannon Street tube stations. The Walbrook is a redevelopment of three existing Minerva properties; St Swithin’s House, Granite House and Walbrook House. The development offers 410,000 sq ft of offices suitable for a major occupier along with 35,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant floor space.
St Botolphs is a 14 storey landmark office building with circa 560,000 sq ft accommodation, including retail space. The building, standing on an island site of 1.25 acres on the eastern side of The City of London, offers office accommodation suitable for company headquarters use. The office development, designed by internationally renowned architects Grimshaw, celebrated its topping out on 5th February 2010. Some 45% of the office space is pre-let to Lockton International (insurance brokers) and Clyde and Co LLP (international commercial lawyers).
This entry was posted in London and tagged Foster and Partners, KiFin, Minerva. Bookmark the permalink.