by Alex Catalano
Rodamco has bought The Shires shopping centre in Leicester and 14 other buildings from Imry – the property company owned by Barclays Bank – for £249m.
But the deal excludes Imry’s retail development site in Southampton which the Dutch fund wanted to buy. Imry is also keeping the Timberlaine portfolio which it bought from General Accident three years ago.
Chris Bartram, who heads Rodamco’s UK arm, Haslemere, said he still wants to buy the proposed West Quay shopping centre in Southampton.
“We were unable to agree on a price, effectively. But it is a shopping centre which we think has excellent potential and we remain interested in talking to Barclays Bank.”
He said the deal was “a big step” towards increasing Haslemere’s retail focus. “We regard The Shires as a first-class investment with good inherent growth potential and major extension possibilities in the medium term,” he said.
Martin Myers, executive deputy chairman of Imry, considers West Quay – where Marks & Spencer has just committed to take a 98,500m2 (106,000 sq ft) store – “the jewel in the crown”.
“What we looked at was the growth potential and the end value. In the time, we were not able to conclude how much of the take the developer should have and how much the institution,” he said. “Personally, I would love to complete it.”
Myers added that he would consider a joint venture.
The other buildings bought by Rodamco are mainly office buildings, 13 in London and a small one in the US.
“We think they are good cyclical buys in a rising London office market,” said Bartram. “We think we can make good use of them on a flexible, one- to two-year view.
The sale allows Barclays to repay £205m of Imry’s debt and part of the £100m nominal value preference shares it holds in the company.
Barclays was advised by BZW, while Haslemere Estates Management advised Rodamco.
