An unnamed Middle Eastern buyer has reportedly offered 2.1 billion dollars for the iconic Empire State Building in New York.
The world's most famous skyscraper made by Woolworth Building part-owner, Rubin Schron is in the process of rolling into a multi-office building IPO by Malkin Holdings, which expects its partner in the operating company, the Helmsley Estate, to sell its shares to the public, New York Post reports.
Joe Tabak, of Princeton Holdings, and Philip Pilevsky, of Philips International, along with Pilevsky's sons Michael and Seth, work with the new Middle Eastern bidder who is believed to be non-Arab.
A source close to the bidder said that it is like buying a painting, and it will be hard to stop them as they will keep ratcheting up the offer till they win the bid.
The 102-story building with 2.95 million square feet was valued at 2.3 billion dollars in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and even with some tax exemptions for its energy-efficiency and elevator improvements, it still pays roughly 31 million dollars a year in property taxes.
Malkins said that it has received two unsolicited bids, one for 2 billion dollars and another for 2.1 billion dollars adding that the company is viewing the offers and their terms and will consider matters, including unsolicited offers, consistent with their fiduciary duties in order to take further action.
Rival Schron bid, Jason Meister, the investment broker from Avison Young said that their bid for 2 billion includes all cash with a 50 million dollars nonrefundable deposit and also allows for the investors to remain in the deal which is critical when considering the other bids.
Lawyer Stephen Meister, who represents some of the smaller investors, said that he has appealed a state court ruling that permitted the 100 dollar per-share buyback and if he wins then the votes are void, however, if the offer for the Empire State Building is a better one, he has a responsibility to consider it, the report added.
