UBS Warburg promptly elevated Liberty International from "neutral" to "buy" and its raised its target from 600p to 620p. Other analysts believe that the entrance of Liberty into the FTSE 100 last year increased the likelihood of a bid for GPE. Such a move would diversify Liberty's portfolio, which is currently heavily weighted with top drawer shopping centres, into central London offices.
The appeal of GPE is that shares in the company are trading at a heavy discount to net asset value making a possible bid attractive in price terms. The company has been at the centre of speculation that it will go private or be taken over by a bigger quoted predator for well over a year now.
GPE has sold over £850 million ($1.4 billion) worth of property to concentrate on its core business of central London offices in recent months. Analysts believe that the more focused portfolio has increased the attractiveness of GPE to potential bidders.
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