There could be new life for the empty former Electro-motive plant in east London.

A deal in principle has been reached for the purchase of the Oxford Rd. factory.

Senior Vice President and Executive Managing Director Peter Whatmore of commercial real estate company CB Richard Ellis says he can’t divulge too much information about the agreement, other than confirming there is one in place.

“There certainly is an agreement and the parties are moving down that road. But when that’ll happen or who the buyer might be, we won’t speculate on that,” says Whatmore. “There are a number of things that happen before there’s a sale. One of them might be an agreement in principle which then leads to a transaction, so that is what has happened in this particular case.”

Whatmore could not identify the buyer, or their plans for the site, but did say he expects there to be an announcement.

“I think Caterpillar will have an announcement in due course and that might be, if everything goes well, 30-60 days from now.”

Whatmore was quick to say that an agreement in principle does not mean that a sale is final.

The building, owned by Caterpillar, closed in February 2012 putting close to 500 people out of work.