Nacton Road, Ipswich
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The Challenge
Cushman & Wakefield represented Crane UK Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crane Co of America, in relation to the disposal of its soon to be redundant 40 acre land holding on Nacton Road, Ipswich. The previous surplus land was to be added to by foundry accommodation to be vacated by Crane and a comprehensive disposal programme was required.
The Solution
C&W carried out a detailed due diligence exercise in order to identify the sale information required to conclude a satisfactory, unconditional disposal of the Crane interest.
The Results
Following the conclusion of a detailed marketing exercise during the summer of 2007 terms were agreed with a major residential developer to sell the site unconditionally for a sum significantly in excess of book value. At the 11th hour due to the overall downturn in the global economic climate the residential developer withdraw from the sale that required C&W to very quickly identify an alternative purchaser and still secure a disposal of the interest within Crane’s financial year. Following very quick negotiations an alternative purchasers was secured and unconditional contracts were exchanged for the sale of the site significantly in excess of book value in late 2007. C&W’s initial due diligence insured that a successful disposal of Crane’s freehold interest with minimal on-going environmental liability.