Stonemartin shares suspended

It requested the suspension of its shares ’pending clarification in relation to a transaction which may or may not be completed’.

The suspension came ahead of an expected announcement tomorrow that its service agreements at four of its five buildings in Birmingham, Manchester, Reading and Bristol have been cancelled. It is also thought a restructure of the company, following a failed sale of the limited properties partnership last year, is due to be announced and could include: third party funding to buy new buildings or selling its holdings to a third party;

The company, which was set up in 1997, operated serviced offices from five buildings in Reading, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and London. All except the London building are owned by a joint venture between Morley and Hermes.

On hold

Earlier this month managing director Colin Peacock resigned and the company said its expansion plans were on hold for the short-to-medium term as no new buildings were likely to be bought due to current economic conditions.

In February it pulled the sale of is property joint venture after it failed to find a buyer. Last August the corporate finance team of Jones Lang LaSalle was hired to find investors to buy the buildings from the joint venture.

Finance director and chief operating officer Graham Ede and marketing director Tim Worboys will continue to manage the business.