Will Malaysia succumb to the 'curse' of Battersea power station?

Every attempt to develop Battersea power station has failed – and seen the developer's home economy collapse too. So does its purchase by a Far-Eastern consortium mean you should now short Malaysia?

We're starting to think that Battersea power station is cursed: every attempt to develop it has failed.

In the 1980s, businessman John Broome tried to turn it into a theme park. However, the project fell through and he went bust. The most recent sale - to Malaysian developers - was prompted by the bankruptcy of the previous owners, Irish property firm Real Estate Opportunities (REO).

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri