British Land

[OLTB]

Afternoon all.

Just a general point that I see Brookfield Asset Management (some folk refer to them as the Canadian Berkshire Hathaway) bought 7.31% of BLND in an rns this morning from a previous zero position.

I hope that this gives some continuing positive momentum to the share as it has been a bit of a dog for me.

Cheers, OLTB.

[PinkDalek]

... from a previous zero position. ...

From a previously non notifiable position. May not have been nil.

5. Date on which the threshold was crossed or reached: 26 May 2020

Position of previous notification (if applicable) Blank.

From https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/BLND/14557277.html

I hope that this gives some continuing positive momentum to the share as it has been a bit of a dog for me.

Annoyingly I sold a little while back and forget to buy back in when I had intended.

May the momentum be with you.

[OLTB]

... from a previous zero position. ...

From a previously non notifiable position. May not have been nil.

5. Date on which the threshold was crossed or reached: 26 May 2020

Position of previous notification (if applicable) Blank.

From https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/BLND/14557277.html

I hope that this gives some continuing positive momentum to the share as it has been a bit of a dog for me.

Annoyingly I sold a little while back and forget to buy back in when I had intended.

May the momentum be with you.

Thanks PD - of course those of us that invest in BLND have a very small percentage which is not notifiable and indeed, Brookfield may have also held some - apologies, my exuberance got the better of me!

Cheers, OLTB.

[TheRIT]

Thanks PD - of course those of us that invest in BLND have a very small percentage which is not notifiable and indeed, Brookfield may have also held some - apologies, my exuberance got the better of me!

Cheers, OLTB.

I own a very small percentage of BLND. It used to be much larger but I seem to have bought a dog.

Reminds me of an old joke. Q. How do you make a successful small company? A. Start with a large one.

I'll get my coat...

[Dod101]

I would never touch British Land having held them in good times in the past. They never did anything for me. Brookfield could well be doing a Buffett when he bought Tesco. Not even the best investors get it right every time. Just because B Land may look cheap that does not make it a good buy. There is far too much uncertainty in the property market at the moment even apart from the retail side. Home working, the potential move away from London for many offices (remember that pledge after the election?) even Brexit. In the short term, non payment of rents and companies folding.

Dod

[SalvorHardin]

Brookfield over the years has made a habit of buying "distressed assets" and holding onto them. Brookfield could buy British Land out of its petty cash as it manages over US$519 billion assets (its own money and its clients), most of which is held in real assets (infrastructure, renewable energy, property, railroads). HYP purists won't like it as Brookfield is Canadian and only yields 1.8% before withholding tax. It's my second biggest holding by quite some way and I've topped up during the Coronavirus crisis.

Brookfield has been buying American shopping malls and other retail properties. It recently put aside $5 billion to buy stakes in retailers, in addition to looking for distressed property companies:

"The company said its retail revitalization program, backed by Brookfield and its institutional partners, will focus on taking noncontrolling stakes in retailers to assist them with their capital needs during this time of "dislocation."

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/mall-owner-brookfield-will-spend-5-billion-to-save-retailers.html

There's nothing that says retail properties have to remain as retail in perpetuity. There's a lot of potential in redevelopment, especially in the better locations. My local paper ran a story this week about the owners of the building in Taunton which houses Debenhams. They have applied for planning permission to convert it to 55 flats with retail remaining only on the ground floor. This building is in the centre of Taunton.

"The application, which the landlord says is only pre-emptive, would see retail premises retained on the ground floor, and ‘retirement living for over 55s’ on the upper levels. Developer Crossmark Estates Limited has been tasked with creating the plans and is now calling on residents to have their say over the future of the site."

https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/18480879.say-contingency-plan-debenhams-taunton-town-centre/

[Alaric]

There's nothing that says retail properties have to remain as retail in perpetuity.

Neither do office buildings have to stay as offices. I'm aware of a development that was first occupied in 1990 where one of the office buildings has been converted to flats. Perhaps being not so many minutes from a village centre and a direct train service to London helps. Plenty of car parking as well.

[tjh290633]

There's nothing that says retail properties have to remain as retail in perpetuity.

Neither do office buildings have to stay as offices. I'm aware of a development that was first occupied in 1990 where one of the office buildings has been converted to flats. Perhaps being not so many minutes from a village centre and a direct train service to London helps. Plenty of car parking as well.

There is an office block in Crawley, in which I worked for 20-plus years - https://crawleymuseums.org/woodall-duck ... ort-story/ - which has been converted into a block of flats. A good use for a building which was outdated by modern office standards.

TJH

[Dod101]

Interesting comments SalvorHardin. Certainly in prime locations, office building are not going just to sit empty for ever, but I am not in the position of say Brookfield where I want to buy distressed assets on the basis that something will turn up at some undetermined later date. Obviously converting or rebuilding office blocks as flats is or should be a good move to try to keep the certain of out towns and cities alive. The same thing has been going on in my county town for some years and in normal times it helps support pubs, restaurants and the Metro Tesco.

Dod