Edinburgh’s Gyle shopping centre is set for a £200m sale after a court ruled against Marks & Spencer in its long-running battle to block a Primark-anchored extension.
M&S has been objecting to plans to add a 55,000 sq ft Primark to the centre since 2010 on the ground that the letting breached the terms of its original 1990 lease. But last week Lord Tyre ruled that the company’s objection was unreasonable.
The judgment enables Ares and Sovereign Land to advance their talks to buy the 361,679 sq ft mall from William Ewart Properties and Cerberus Capital Management.
Cerberus bought the debt securing the centre last year as part of Nama’s £4.5bn Project Eagle portfolio and it is continuing to work with William Ewart, which manages the centre and is leading the legal defence.
While the complex multi-party talks have yet to result in finalised terms, a sale at the £200m asking price would reflect a 5.5% yield.
An M&S spokesperson said: “We are considering our options and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”
M&S was part of the joint venture that developed the centre and its original lease means any alteration to the area within the site allocated for parking must be agreed by the company in writing.
The latest legal edict reverses an earlier judgment in M&S’s favour last summer and comes after 20 retailers within the centre signed a letter expressing their frustration at the delay to the extension.
