David Ross to offload his leisure property portfolio

David Ross, entrepreneur and Carphone Warehouse co-founder, is preparing to dispose of his commercial property assets.

The assets, owned by Ross’s 'Kandahar Real Estate' property firm, include shopping centres and other leisure related properties. The portfolio of over 30 buildings feature the £55 million Jackson Square shopping centre in Bishop’s Stortford and the Church Walk shopping centre in Caterham, Surrey.

Jones Lang LaSalle has been drafted in to assess the options for the properties, which are understood to be worth a total of £200 million. Sale options may include selling the buildings off individually or putting them into joint ventures.

At the peak of the property market, the property portfolio was worth in excess of £500 million - the value then plummeted downwards in the recession.

Towards the end of February it was reported that Ross’s efforts to restructure Kandahar’s debts, which were last valued at £192 million, failed at the last moment. The plan was for Catalyst, a fund management firm, to buy Kandahar’s debts from Lloyds bank. The bank pulled out however, after deciding to request a higher price for the assets.

Kandahar was set up in 2003 to invest in leisure and retail assets with backing from Mr Ross and HBOS.

Mr Ross intends to remain in the property sector and reportedly may collaborate with Julian Newiss and Peter Kasch, who run Catalyst Capital.

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