Rolls-Royce rose 8 percent after Pratt & Whittney said it
would buy the UK-listed firm’s share of the International Aero
Engines consortium for $1.5 billion, while, elsewhere,
Alcatel-Lucent , rose 10.8 percent on a report it had
agreed to sell its corporate call centre services unit to
private equity.At 0754 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top
European shares was up 0.3 percent at 979.49 points, having been
as low as 970.80 earlier.
A letter of intent outlines an agreement and a final agreement could fail to materialize.Representatives for the Moinian Group and SL Green declined comment. Representatives for brokerage Newmark Knight Frank, which worked with the landlord, and CB Richard Ellis Inc, which worked with WPP, also declined comment.In addition to Young & Rubicam, WPP owns more than 100 companies including public relations and advertising firms Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton and Ogilvy & Mather.On Tuesday, UBS raised its rating on SL Green to a “buy” from a “hold,” saying fears of a leasing slowdown in Manhattan have helped drive down the stock 33 percent since late May.UBS said that Midtown’s vacancy rate of less than 10 percent and a dwindling supply of big blocks of space to rent should help counter effects of further layoffs the city may encounter.The potential deal at 3 Columbus Circle is the latest chapter in a saga spanning the U.S. commercial real estate boom and bust.The Moinian Group, which went on a buying spree in the middle of last decade, bought the office tower in 2004 to convert it into a sleek modern building. The 26-story building, which was originally constructed in 1923, overlooks Central Park and Columbus Circle.But Moinian defaulted on the mortgage in January 2010. Last year the company sued Related Cos, which had bought the debt on the tower in an attempt to foreclose on the building. The tower, also known as 1775 Broadway, is located across from the Time Warner Center, which Related co-developed.SL Green, New York City’s largest office landlord, in January agreed to provide $138 million in equity to complete the redevelopment. It also refinanced the mortgage with a bridge loan that eventually was replaced by a $260 million mortgage provided by The Bank of China. The deal gave SL Green a 48.9 percent interest in the building.A total of $90 million was spent to redevelop the building.
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