The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has paid around £300m to increase its stake in the Liverpool One shopping centre to 65%.
ADIA has bought out Hermes’ share of around 15% as well as Redevco’s holding, which was also 15%.
Grosvenor has also sold around 5% of its share to ADIA, but retains around half of the remaining 35%. It will continue as asset manager of the 1.8m
sq ft mall, which is valued at close to £950m.
Santander’s UK pension fund and its stake is managed by LaSalle Investment Management.
Redevco and Hermes have been longstanding investors in the centre, both committing in 2004 with the original funding agreement, and will see a sizeable return on their investment.
ADIA was buoyed by the strong performance of the centre in 2015, with overall sales increasing by 8.5%.
Liverpool One was refinanced in December last year. French banks BNP Paribas and Société Générale and Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsubishi joined incumbents Crédit Agricole and Royal Bank of Scotland in the new £410m financing package – a circa 43% loan-to-value ratio.
A Grosvenor spokesman said: “Grosvenor can confirm that it has decided to sell part of its share in the Grosvenor Liverpool Fund, the investment vehicle that owns Liverpool One, to recycle capital for its development and investment pipeline.
“Grosvenor remains fully committed to Liverpool and will retain a substantial long-term investment in the Grosvenor Liverpool Fund.”
Lazard advised Grosvenor and Redevco on the deal.
