V&A Waterfront sale: Another look

An interesting article in the Cape Business News looks at why the Waterfront was sold so quickly after being held for a relatively short time. Large property deals usually appear to be for the long haul to turn a decent profit, but in this case the V&A was sold in less than five short years. 
Sure, times have changed, quite drastically actually, and the centre was bought in the good times when the Dubai-based consortium was still enjoying the fruits of the property boom. When the boom went bust, Dubai and its subsidiaries took a hammering. Their debt woes were well documented, eventually having to be bailed out by their richer neighbour, Abu Dhabi. This debt may or may not have been the reason for the sale as reports pointed to a profitable centre, albeit owned by a debt-riddled company.

The new owners have put some rather attractive looking numbers on the table and Dubai's loss could be a huge gain for them. Look after the crown jewels guys - we don't have too many.

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