Prominent tycoon folds multimillion pound property business

14 June 2011

After declaring real estate an unattractive ‘avenue' to pursue at the moment, the former right-hand man of the Tchenguiz brothers has shut down his corporate finance and property advisory firm, Three Delta.

Paul Taylor told his staff on Tuesday morning that they would soon be made redundant as the business wound down. The staff will be paid in full.

Mr Taylor confirmed the surprise move to Estates Gazette: "The decision was voluntary and was not made under adverse circumstance - there is no debt or anything else that forced the decision."

He continued: "There are better avenues than real estate to pursue at the moment that are a lot more viable."

Just before its closure, Three Delta was not operating as a property management company, and only ran an asset finance business.

It is likely that employees were extremely shocked by the shut down, as the company had taken steps to raise funds for an opportunistic property fund and a core property fund. 

In pursuing the core property fund, Three Delta had hired a firm from Invista Real Estate to support the venture.

Property Week reported that a source close to the company said that the market for highly leveraged, structured finance and opco-propco deals had dried up, and that Taylor would pursue other businesses.

Paul Taylor's notoriety within the property sector was first shown when, in 2000, he became a key lieutenant to Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, having left his position at Natwest's structured finance business to become chief executive of Rotch, the Tchenguiz' private business.

His name was once again in the spotlight when, after leaving the Tchenguiz brothers' company in 2006 to establish Three Delta, his firm was the adviser to multiple highly leveraged deals undertaken by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), including the £1.4bn purchase of Four Seasons, a portfolio of care homes which were mostly occupied by Southern Cross.

Most of three Delta's issues are thought to have arisen following the failure of the company's £10.6 billion buyout of Sainsbury's on behalf of QIA.

The QIA withdrew from Three Delta in June 2008 and whilst Taylor clearly attempted to reposition the company, his future business efforts shall be focused elsewhere.