An unidentified bidder from West Asia has offered $ 2.1 billion in an unsolicited bid for New York’s iconic Empire State Building, a news report said yesterday.
The offer appeared to top another unsolicited bid of $ 2 billion by Rubin Schron, who partly owns the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan. Schron made the offer public after the Empire State Building’s operating company, Malkin Holdings, announced plans to become publicly traded.
Built in 1930, the 102-storey building has changed ownership in recent decades and is valued at $ 2.3 billion in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was once the tallest building in the United States and is situated at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue, a favorite venue for tourists.
The Post said two US-based companies — Princeton Holdings and Philips International — are working with the new bidder to buy the landmark.
“To this guy, it’s like buying a painting,” the Post quoted a source as saying. “It will be very hard to stop them. They will keep ratcheting up (the offer) until they get it.”