JP Morgan looks for corporate PFI partner

City investment bank JP Morgan has confirmed that it is in the market for a 'corporate PFI' solution to its accommodation needs. Discussions are at an early stage with adviser Vector Management, with the aim of identifying a partner and concluding an agreement by mid-2000.

The bank currently occupies over 100,000sqm of floorspace in 11 buildings.

Its goal in introducing this new strategy will be to achieve the flexibility that multiple long-term leases preclude. In addition, it wants to free some of the capital it now has locked up in property resources.

The 700-property DSS contract, managed by Trillium, is one obvious model, and Trillium is believed to be on the list of potential partners.

The other acknowledged candidate for corporate PFI is ICL. Its negotiations with Integrated Workspace Solutions - an Amey/Deutsche Bank/Regus consortium - continue on track towards an April agreement.

Elliott Chase