More London defaults on City Hall mortgage

Article in tonights Standard


THE developer that owns Boris Johnson's offices has defaulted on its mortgage, it was revealed today.

More London, which owns City Hall and to which the Greater London Authority pays rent, breached the loan's terms in January.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23656317-details/Developer+defaults+on+City+Hall+mortgage/article.do

Given that Epic (More London) plc seems to have been one of RBS's financial engineering creations to securitise the future rental income, this technical breach is probably not much of a surprise.

What is more interesting is that according to Property Week, "the borrower, London Bridge Holdings, which is thought to be a consortium of offshore investors, failed to cure the breach".

Is Dikran Izmirlian and his family still the majority shareholder behind LBH?

Whoever the prime offshore investor may now be, one wonders whether the lack of ready cash to refinance the deal suggest that their funds had been invested with Madoff, Stanford or both?

Dunno if this comment fits here or if I should start a new thread, but does anyone else feel that Boris' move towards restricting public access to City Hall is just what might have been expected?