* Helical Bar in partnership to acquire distressed UK assets
* Does not expect to act until mid 2009
* Will consider any property asset with yields over 8.5 percent
* Helical Bar has about 72 million sterling of own cash for purchases
LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Property company Helical Bar said on Thursday it has partnered a North American fund to acquire distressed assets in the UK, but does not expect to act until mid 2009 as values should fall further.
"We're just being patient right now. Any acquisitions right now will be like catching a falling knife," Chief Executive Mike Slade told Reuters in an interview, after the company reported its first half to end-September results. Slade, who declined to name the company's U.S. private equity partner, said Helical Bar now has about 72 million pounds ($113 million) of its own cash for purchases, and will look at any property assets with yields of above 8.5 percent.
"We'll look at anything that comes through that is of good value, be it residential or retail. We're looking for properties with good quality, institutional tenants," he said.
Slade said Helical Bar had been in discussions with Norway's sovereign wealth fund in August for fresh equity to invest in property, but those talks have since fallen through.
"It was close but it didn't happen. What they needed didn't match what we wanted to do as they had wanted a dedicated fund from us," he said.
Helical Bar, which specialises in investment and development of retirement villages, student accommodation and property outsourcing, reported a six months to end-September pretax profit of 12.7 million pounds, up 74 percent from a year earlier.
The results were boosted by an 84 percent jump in development profit to 7.9 million pounds, as the company saw strong sales of its retail projects in Poland and a student housing development in UK, while rental income held steady.
Slade expects the company's full-year results to worsen from year to March 2008's 24.3 million pound pretax loss, due to further writedowns on its investment properties as the UK property downturn deepens amid a global financial crisis.
Development profits will also be hit hard as the number of potential occupiers for projects come off dramatically due to the economic slowdown worldwide, he said.
"We're still holding up pretty well, but investment properties for the full year are going to be marked down pretty viciously. And the next year is going to be awful." (Reporting by Daryl Loo; Editing by Andrew Macdonald) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters)