Peel Group in £583 million Harworth Group offer

A real estate investor has made a £583 million bid to buy a commercial land regeneration firm.

Peel Group is lining up a swoop for Harworth Group.

It says the move would build on an existing investment partnership, adding Rotherham-headquartered Harworth’s assets “would be best owned, managed and developed under the full control of Peel”.

However, bosses have warned the move could lead to “significant” job cuts through “reduction and synergies from overlapping functions and the elimination of costs associated with Harworth’s status as a listed company”.

They add no decisions have been made on any roles or if changes will be made to Harworth’s headquarters location and functions, as well as sister bases in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

The offer is led by Peel Pepper (UK) Limited, a company indirectly wholly-owned by Peel Holdings Group that is part of Peel Group.

Peel Group is already a long-term investor in Harworth Group, which owns and manages a portfolio that is set to include a 30,700sq ft hub at Barnsley’s Gateway 36.

The firm - which reported revenues of £129.7 million in the year to December 31 - earlier this week unveiled a distribution sector operator agreement to develop the Yorkshire base ahead of rolling out a 20-year lease.

Its book additionally includes more than 15,000 acres of land, which officials say carries potential to develop in excess of 35 million sq ft of employment space and more than 29,000 homes across the North of England and Midlands.

Peel Group invests in and manages land and property regeneration schemes across the UK.

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