Tha Lifestyle Dec,2013 | Page 5

tha lifestyle | Business & Finance Tamil Telecom Tycoon Enters the Real Estate market Subaskaran Allirajah Born : 2 March 1972 in Sri Lanka Group Founder and Chairman of the Lycatel and LycaMobile Groups of companies. Worth £180 million Lives in London Chigwell T he British Tamil Tycoon who is behind the world’s largest cheap international call network, Lycatel Chairman Subaskaran Allirajah, has purchased the 3.7acre Thames Quay in Docklands from Columbus Capital Management in an £82 million deal. The move is his first entry into British real estate investment. The site currently holds four fully occupied office buildings and has very good potential for redevelopment. The Ceylon Tamil born, ex- British Telecom tycoon is ranked 434th in the Sunday Times Rich List with a £180m fortune, and he saw off competition from seven other bidders to secure the site. Architects Robin Partington has already designed four residential towers of up to 47 storeys, incorporating a 100,000 sq ft hotel and a 246,000 sq ft office building. The group’s main company Lycamobile, which is already based at Thames Quay owns Independent House, the ISIS building, the Walbrook building and 197 Marsh Wall Lycamobile also bought Drewry House at 213 Marsh Wall, which it plans to use as overflow space. Since Lycatel Group was founded in 2004 it has developed operations in 16 countries and a subscriber base of more than nine million customers. In an attempt to expand his business areas International MVNO Lycamobile has recently bought the Red Steel cricket team, which represents Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean Premier League. In an interview regarding the purchase Subaskaran Allirajah said: “We are incredibly excited to support the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel team from the very beginning of their journey and look forward to growing with them through the exciting tournaments to come.” The Caribbean Premier League is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean by the West Indies Cricket Board. It was created in 2013 and replaced the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier cricket competition in the Caribbean. 03