REAL ESTATE

Plan for Olympia & York in U.S. Revealed: New York-based developer Jerry Speyer and financier Leon Black announced plans to take control of the U.S. unit of the Canadian real estate concern by investing $100 million and converting a $160-million loan into stock in the company. Speyer’s Tishman Speyer Properties Inc. and Black’s Apollo Real Estate Investments would gain a majority interest in some of New York’s choicest addresses. With $400 million of Olympia & York debt, Apollo is one of its largest creditors. The unit’s total debt is estimated at around $5 billion. It remains to be seen how other creditors will respond.