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LAND SECS TO FACE SPLIT-UP

REVIEW: Salway is examining fresh options

Thursday September 6,2007

By David Shand

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LAND Securities, the UK’s biggest quoted commercial property group, yesterday indicated it might break itself up to revive its flagging share price.

The company said a review of its business structure was “well progressed” and further details would be provided once it was completed. US investment bank Citigroup is advising on various options.

This has fuelled speculation that £8.5billion Land Secs, whose shares trade at a discount of about 25 per cent to the company’s asset value, will spin off its Trillium outsourcing and management business and divide the rest between retail property and London offices.

Francis Salway, Land Secs’s chief executive, said: “It became evident to us in the run-up to and following REIT real estate investment trust conversion that we should test our current business structure against alternative options to ensure we have the optimal structure for creating long-term shareholder value.”

Dealers said confirmation of Land Secs’ review would put the spotlight on rivals such as British Land and Hammerson.

Land Secs has lost more than 20 per cent of its value since the start of the year, amid concerns about a slowdown in the commercial property market.