DTZ says to advise on $600mln Dawnay property sale

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - DTZ (DTZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has been appointed by the administrators at two sets of Dawnay Day property firms to advise on the sale of 300 million pounds-worth ($597.6 million) of British commercial property, it said on Friday.

In a statement, property services firm DTZ said it had been instructed by BDO Stoy Hayward to provide valuation and strategic advice on the sale of 64 mainly retail properties held by Starlight Investments and Insureprofit.

"This is the biggest single property insolvency to come to light in the downturn so far," Richard Stanley, DTZ's director of corporate recovery and restructuring, said.

"We are seeing similar difficulties with highly leveraged investment vehicles struggling in the current market," he said.

Commercial property values in Britain have tumbled by about a fifth since the onset of a global credit crunch last summer.

Privately owned investment company Dawnay Day owns gross assets of about $4 billion and manages a further $6 billion. A source close to the firm said on Monday that it had hired Ernst & Young to restructure its complex web of companies.

Together Starlight and Insureprofit hold investments of worth about 500 million pounds, DTZ said.

(Reporting by William Kemble-Diaz; Editing by David Cowell)

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