Recent project experience

Business Plan of Marina Flisvos - Lamda Technol Flisvos Marina

The development and exploitation of Flisvos Marina was assigned for a period of 40 years through international tender to Lamda Technol Flisvos Marina, a joint venture between Hellenic Tourist Properties and a group of investors-leaders in the Greek real estate developers´ market. Based on an analysis of the marine market in Attika and the strategic advantages of Flisvos Marina, we projected its financials for the whole concession period (40 years) and derived the optimum financing structure of the company.

Financial Advisor for the Real Estate property of Hellenic Telecommunication Company (OTE)

KANTOR is member of the team consisting of Deutsche Bank, EFG Telesis and FPD Savills, which undertook the exploitation of the real estate property of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), managed by its subsidiary OTE Estate. The project involves the development of a Strategic Plan for all properties, and the support of OTE Estate in the implementation of the proposed strategic alternatives.

Financial Advisor for the privatization of Hellenic Casino of Parnitha - Interministerial Privatization Committee

Tender design, preparation of Tender Documents, preselection of participants and tender award through a multiple round auction. Two hotels and 100,000m2 of land development was involved.

Financial Advisor for the privatization of a Spa Resort at Kamena Vourla - Interministerial Privatization Committee of the Hellenic Republic

Tender design, preparation of Tender Documents, preselection of participants and tender award following the evaluation of Technical and Financial Proposals. Three hotels, two spas, 600,000m² of land development and a coastal line was involved.

Financial Advisor for the privatization of the Athens Metropolitan Convention Centre at Hellinikon - Interministerial Privatization Committee of the Hellenic Republic

Tender design, preparation of Tender Documents, preselection of participants and tender award following the evaluation of Technical and Financial Proposals. The project involved the exploitation of the old airport terminal at Hellinikon of a total area of 36,000 m² and of the customs building of a total area of 10,000 m² in a total land area of 170.000 m².

Organization and Management Advisor for the privatization of marines in Attika - Interministerial Privatization Committee of the Hellenic Republic

Monitoring of the Financial Advisor for the privatization of Zea, Alimos and Floisvos marinas in Attika. The project included the development and exploitation of a coastal area of 678,000 m² and 267,000 m² of land development.

Organization and Management Advisor for the privatization of a Theme Park in Anavissos and of a Golf resort in Rhodes - Interministerial Privatization Committee of the Hellenic Republic

Monitoring of the Financial Advisor the privatization of a Theme Park in Anavissos (1,576,700 m² of land development project) and of a Golf Resort in Rhodes including a five star hotel and 1,821,900 m² of land development.

Privatization of 18 marinas in Greece - Ministry of Economy

KANTOR participated in a consortium with EFG Telesis and Triton for the privatization of 18 marinas in Greece. The project included market analysis of the marine tourist market in Greece, compared with alternative destinations (Turkey, Italy), technical assessment of prospective marinas, financial evaluation of their operations. Currently, tender documents have been prepared for the most mature projects and will be distributed to prospective investors.

Property management - Ericcson Inc.*

In 2001, the Ericcson occupied nearly 800,000 square feet of office as well as research and development space in two separate facilities at Research Triangle Park in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.Recognizing the need to control costs and improve efficiencies, Ericsson eliminated many of its non-core business functions. By outsourcing its management services and reducing onsite staff, Ericsson generated immediate savings of $100,000. A careful, systematic study of all vendor contracts has resulted in annual savings in excess of $300,000. GVA Advantis maintained cultural continuity by hiring the former Ericsson facilities manager to lead the new on-site team.

Development Management - Centrim Bonifratesca*

Developed by GVA Immoconsult-Polska, the Centrim Bonifraterska property comprises 26,000 square meters of office space and 1,411 square metres of retail and restaurants, and 317 parking places. Drawing on its local market expertise, GVA Immoconsult Polska delivered a high-quality, well-designed development project targeted to the space needs of the Warsaw office market.

Investment Advice - Thomas More Square*

Thomas More Square is a 52,000-square-metre predominantly office development completed in the early 1990s and situated on the eastern fringe of the City of London. The principal tenants included Reuters, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Zurich Insurance. In-house clients of AXA Real Estate Investment Managers acquired the freehold of the entire development and subsequently acquired additional long leasehold interests. Exceptional rental growth in this location coupled with the further acquisitions led to significant growth in the capital value of the holding. The success of AXA's investment strategy resulted in its clients having an overweight exposure to this asset. GVA Grimley was appointed to advise on a strategy to reduce the client's exposure while retaining control of the asset and sharing in its future performance through a Limited Partnership (LP) vehicle. GVA Grimley advised AXA on the structure of the partnership and marketed the investment opportunity to a number of U.K. and overseas institutional investors.

Investment Advice - Fujifilm Canada*

Fujfilm Canada is the Canadian marketing subsidiary of Tokyo-based Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd., a leading global provider of imaging and information products, with sales exceeding $20 billion (CDN). Faced with outgrowing its Canadian office and distribution facility, Fujfilm appointed GVA Devencore to advise its senior management on acquiring a larger corporate headquarters and national distribution center. GVA Devencore worked with Fujfilm on needs analysis, site identification, requests for proposals, lease negotiations and, finally, construction. The consulting team developed a tailored weighting and decision matrix to evaluate the bottom-line financial impact and created a competitive auction scenario to produce the most favourable results.

Valuation - Tomkins*

An accelerated competitive environment and wheat price deflation brought Tomkins, a global engineering group, to dispose of subsidiary Ranks Hovis McDougall (RHM), the UK's largest milling, baking and food group. GVA Grimley undertook detailed valuations of around 100 properties, including bakeries in France, flour mills in Holland, distribution centers, food factories, depots and offices. When the initial appraisal suggested a substantial increase in asset value over Existing Use Value, GVA Grimley advised Tomkins to undertake a full revaluation of RHM before the sale. This additional valuation identified higher alternative use values of key properties, making the case for higher fixed asset values and enhancing sale prospects.

Property Advisor - Land Securities Trillium*

GVA Grimley has been one of Land Securities Trillium's key property advisers, acting for and advising the organisation upon the potential acquisition of other major portfolios, including London Underground, Inland Revenue and, most recently, the 6 million-square-metre British Telecom portfolio. GVA Grimley provided loan security valuation advice upon the £2.38bn British Telecom outsource project to keep secure finance via securitisation and a bond issue secured against the property assets. This is the largest property acquisition ever undertaken in Europe involving innovative financing arrangements and outsourcing lease structures.

* GVA Worldwide client