Max Property Group, a Jersey-incorporated, closed-ended property fund backed and run by a host of high-powered names, has been admitted to the London AIM and Channel Island stock exchanges in what officials said was the largest IPO in Europe to date this year.
The £220m IPO was also the first of the year for both the LSE and Channel Island Stock Exchange.
Response to the IPO exceeded expectations, prompting some observers to suggest that the property market’s long-awaited recovery may have begun.
Och-Ziff, a US hedge fund group that went public in 2007, was among the main investors, committing £35m at the offer price, while the Max Property management team, its partners and affiliates committed an additional £25m.
In addition to Och-Ziff, other well-known names involved in the fund include Nick Leslau, the wealthy British property entrepreneur who heads it, and who is also a principal of Prestbury, a private property business; Mike Brown, a former top executive of Helical Bar, who will be chief executive; and Aubrey Adams, a former Savills CEO who is to be Max Property’s chairman.
Adams said Max would seek to invest in opportunities resulting from the current “difficult conditions in the UK property market”.
The launch of Jersey-domiciled Max Property comes after the island’s attraction as a financial centre was been given a boost by its inclusion on the OECD’s ‘white list’ of jurisdictions, and by the recent rise in the UK’s top income tax rate to 50%, which has prompted some wealthy Britons to consider relocating.
Two of the company’s executives — independent non-executive directors David Waters and Alex Ohlsson — are Jersey residents.
Jersey has a 20% flat rate of personal income tax, except for high-income individuals who may pay on a graded scale that kicks in once their income hits £1.5m, above which point they pay only 1%.
