Hammerson has exchanged unconditional contracts on the sale of seven retail parks to Brookfield for £330m in cash.
The deal is expected to complete by the end of May. When it does, it will mark Hammerson’s long-awaited exit from the UK retail parks sector.
The portfolio measures 2.2m sq ft in total and comprises: Central Retail Park in Falkirk; Cyfarthfa Retail Park in Merthyr Tydfil; Cleveland Retail Park in Middlesbrough; Elliott’s Field Shopping Park in Rugby; Telford Forge Shopping Park in Telford; Ravenhead Retail Park in St Helens; and The Orchard Centre in Didcot.
The £330m price tag represents an 8% discount to a combined December book value of £357m, and a net initial yield of 8.6%.
The transaction will take the total gross proceeds of Hammerson’s disposals this year to £403m, at a 6% average discount to December valuations.
It comes after it offloaded its £22m stake in Brent South Shopping Park to Barnet Council earlier this year, as well as its minority interests in Nicetoile and Espace Saint Quentin for £73m.
The proceeds of these disposals will be used to reduce the landlord’s £2.2bn debt pile as well as increase liquidity, which stood at £1.7bn at the end of last year.
Rita-Rose Gagné, chief executive of Hammerson, said: “As highlighted at the full year results, our immediate priority is to strengthen the balance sheet. This latest disposal is a positive step. Alongside this, we continue to focus on delivering operationally.
“We have successfully welcomed back our customers in England to our flagship venues, with footfall levels well above the June 2020 reopening, and look forward to reopening our other destinations as local restrictions allow over the coming months.”
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