Crest Nicholson straining under debt + full newspaper round-up

The Times reports that a number of highly leveraged buy-outs of companies in the last few years, in particular housebuilder Crest Nicholson, are coming under strain from the recent credit crunch.

Crest Nicholson was bought for £715 million in 2007 by HBOS bank and Sir Tom Hunter’s West Coast Capital private equity firm but the value of the debt-funded buy-out has tumbled. The collapse in property values means that the valuation of the assets has slumped and Crest Nicholson’s senior debt – the main source of cash for the takeover - has tumbled to 50p in the pound and its junior and mezzanine debt is trading at between 40p and 50p.

The senior debt of retirement homebuilder McCarthy & Stone, which is owned by West Coast Capital, the Reuben brothers and Bank of Scotland, is trading at 75p and its junior mezzanine borrowings at 55p to 60p.

The Daily Mail reports that Conservative Party leader David Cameron is to re-install a home wind turbine on the top of his £1 million home in Kensington, west London. Mr Cameron removed the turbine after a gale of criticism from local residents but has submitted a new planning application to put up a £3,000 turbine on his five-bedroom home.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the number of skilled migrants moving to the UK will rise 14 per cent in the next four years to 800,000 according to new research. A report by recruitment consultant Harvey Nash says skilled migrants, including many in the construction sector, will provide 2.8 per cent of the UK workforce by 2012 and their value to the economy will rise by a third to nearly £50 billion.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that the cost of proposals to build the UK’s first design and engineering college in Bath has ballooned. The college was originally going to cost £25 million with half of this cash provided by Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner. The cost has now reached £56 million but Sir James still hopes that the school will open as planned in 2010.