RealCast: Brookfield ups BLand stake, UK extends moratorium on evictions, big deals distort European performance

Nicol Dynes, James Wallace, Paul Strohm and Richard Betts

Brookfield has increased its stake in British Land fuelling speculation that it is making ready for an M&A bid. The UK reit’s value has been cut to £11 billion but its market capitalisation is around £3 billion.

Also in the UK, the moratorium on evicting commercial tenants has been extended somewhat controversially. While some tenants deserve support, other well capitalised companies are said to be milking the system.

Europe appears to be outperforming other regions in terms of its ability to attract investment capital. But, as delegates at last week’s Realx.Global online real estate event heard, the figures have been distorted by a number of large deals, not least, Blackstone’s £4.7 billion acquisition of student accommodation platform IQ. The distortion is unhealthy, some say.

Meanwhile, a CMS report on the impact of Covid 19 on real estate forecasts a bounce back – or at least a reset – with ESG at its heart.

The Realx session on Human Capital, ESG and Winning Cities heard, however, that while there is an increasing willingness to incorporate ESG in property portfolios, database deficiencies may be an obstacle.

Nicol Dynes, James Wallace and Paul Strohm join Richard Betts in your regular analysis of the key themes for the week in real assets.

You can download RealCast as a video or audio podcast and watch or listen to previous editions at www.realassetinsight.com

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