MULTIPLEX is poised to sell about half its 50 per cent stake in a proposed £3 billion shopping, homes and office development in Cricklewood, northwest London, to a consortium of Saudi billionaires, The Times has learnt. The consortium is thought to be linked to Shaid Luqman, the Manchester businessman who was named young entrepreneur of the year in 2004.

Mr Luqman, 36, who runs Lexi Holdings, a company that provides bridging finance for property deals, is understood to be working with Paul Bloomfield, a veteran property dealmaker, and Nick Candy, one of the brothers who made their names through developing bespoke homes for the super-rich.

Mr Bloomfield has been instrumental in helping Multiplex to establish itself in the UK. Mr Candy and his brother Christian saw an opportunity in 1999 to develop upmarket homes and have sold flats to Middle Eastern royal families and Russian oligarchs.

Mr Luqman is understood to be the cousin of Saif Durbar, who runs Saifnoor, an offshore investment vehicle connected to the deal.

The people funding the deal are thought to include Mohammed al-Sait, a Saudi billionaire who owns a string of hotels in Mecca and has a construction business, and Sheikh Sharif, another Saudi businessman.

SJ Berwin, the City law firm, is advising on the deal.

The Australian property group, which will retain part of its stake in the Cricklewood development, is expected to work with its new partners to develop the project.

Hammerson, the FTSE 100 property group, owns the other 50 per cent stake in the Cricklewood scheme.

Multiplex bought its 50 per cent stake in January from Pillar, the property company, which has since been taken over by British Land. Multiplex paid £18.6 million for the stake.

The group also teamed up with the Reuben brothers, the billionaire private investors, and Westfield, the Australian shopping centre giant, to carry through a £2.1 billion takeover of Chelsfield, the property company founded by Elliott Bernerd.

That deal gave Multiplex a huge pipeline of development opportunities, which would have made it one of Britain’s biggest developers. But the group’s experiences in the UK quickly turned sour with news that its high-profile construction contract to build the new Wembley stadium would be loss-making.

All parties would not comment last night.

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