Row over Town Centre buyback

PROPERTY group

The Association of British Insurers has raised concerns ahead of this week's annual meeting about a TCS plan to seek a takeover code waiver allowing the Ziffs to do this without making a full takeover offer.

It is also worried that the Ziff family could soon be in outright control if buybacks continue. But Edward Ziff, chief executive of the Leeds company - its interests range from shopping centres to hospital car parks - insisted: 'There is no intention of taking the company private on the cheap.'

He said that although the company wants to buy back a further 14.3% of the shares, he would be surprised if as many as 10% were acquired. 'We might not buy any,' he added.

In the current year, the company has bought in about 10% when it had shareholder approval to buy 15%. 'The market is deciding this for us,' said Ziff. Town Centre Securities' shares ended last week at 113p, compared with a low of 102p and a net asset value of 211p. Ziff said: 'If the shares cannot be bought at the right price then we won't do it.'

He said he was unaware of any worries at the ABI, though he admitted that one institutional shareholder had raised concerns with him. 'I told him that we're in this together - I've got the lion's share of my wealth in this company,' he said.

'The buybacks reward longterm shareholders at the expense of short-term sellers - and that's fine by me.'