Prestbury investors to share £120m

Prestbury Group, the property company, yesterday said it would return around £120m to shareholders, following the liquidation of its assets.

Prestbury Group, the property company, yesterday said it would return around £120m to shareholders, following the liquidation of its assets.

The company, run by Nick Leslau, who is also one of the entrepreneurs behind Knutsford, the investment vehicle, also offered shareholders the chance to roll over the proceeds from Prestbury into a new company.

Prestbury announced in June that the low rating given by the stock market to property companies meant that the only way of realising the value of Prestbury in the short-term was to sell all its property, give the money raised to shareholders, and to close.

The new venture announced yesterday by Mr Leslau, called Investment, would be a private group, although its area of business is yet to be determined. Mr Leslau and his business associate Nigel Wray, who is chairman of Knutsford, will put the 34 per cent of Prestbury they own into Investment.

Prestbury shareholders will receive at least 69p a share, which compares favourably with the company's net asset value, reported yesterday at 68.3p a share, at 30 June. Shareholders will, in October, receive 40p a share in cash, plus shares in Safestore, a self-storage group in which Prestbury has invested, worth 10.4p a share. The rest of the proceeds will be distributed as properties are sold.