Greycoat on a knife edge: Goldman Sachs to vote in favour of Postel's deal

THE vote on Postel's proposed rescue of the troubled property company Greycoat remained too close to call last night after Goldman Sachs said it would vote in favour of the deal at an extraordinary meeting today.

Other shareholders are understood to be standing firm in their opposition to the complex scheme.

Three-quarters of four different classes of shareholder are required to approve the deal, masterminded by Postel's chief executive, Alastair Ross Goobey. In a last-ditch effort to secure the necessary votes, he wrote an open letter yesterday to Greycoat confirming that Postel would not change the terms of the reconstruction.

Goldman Sachs, while never stating publicly that it planned to vote against the pounds 120m rescue package, was understood to be unhappy with its structure, which forced preference shareholders to accept a 60 per cent reduction in the value of their shares. Goldman owns 8 per cent of the preference shares.

Gruss Partners, a US securities house that holds 14 per cent of the preference shares, is expected to vote against the deal. Nicholas Berry, the property entrepreneur, has already voted against with his 2 per cent holding.

The battle to secure the support of ordinary shareholders was given a boost last night by Julian Treger, the South African investor, who said that he would reluctantly vote for the deal in respect of his 18 per cent stake.

He said: 'I don't think the terms are the best in the world. But if the proposals are voted down, there will be a period of great uncertainty. In the absence of anything better we are doing everything in our power to vote them through.'