Hilton offer pulled

Wellington-based investment group St Laurence will go back to the drawing board after its bid for Auckland's landmark Hilton Hotel fell over on a lack of investor interest.

Friday, October 22nd 2004, 6:26AM

St Laurence said in late August it planned to buy the Princes Wharf St hotel for $51 million and would raise up to $29.7 million of that through a "proportionate ownership scheme". The balance of the purchase price would be met with secured borrowings.

However, it said today the scheme would not now proceed "in its present form".

St Laurence managing director Kevin Podmore said initial interest in the scheme had not translated into subscriptions, "and we achieved only half of the $9.7 million required for the contract to purchase the property to become unconditional".

"While we are disappointed that interest in the offer fell short, we remain confident that the hotel represents an excellent investment opportunity with good growth potential," Podmore said in a statement.

"We are now currently exploring an alternative structure which may involve capitalising upon the strong international interest that we received in the investment offer."

Under St Laurence's original proposal the 166 room hotel which opened in 2001 would have been purchased fully leased to Princes Wharf Hotel Ltd. Hilton Group subsidiary Hilton International would have continued to operate it until 2016.

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Hilton offer pulled

Wellington-based investment group St Laurence will go back to the drawing board after its bid for Auckland's landmark Hilton Hotel fell over on a lack of investor interest.

Friday, October 22nd 2004, 6:26AM

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