CIT has exchanged contracts on one of the largest shopping centre portfolios ever to come to the market.
The private investment company, headed by lawyer John Barroll-Brown, has paid around £325m for the two Charterhouse funds – £18m above the asking price and £55m higher than the lowest bidder, Dunedin.
The deal reflects a net initial yield of around 6.5%.
CIT is understood to have secured funding from Deutsche Bank to buy the 11-strong portfolio marketed by HSBC.
It includes centres in Yate, Bridgend, Hull, Yeovil, Torquay, Dalston, Cramlington in Northumberland, Dunstable, Haywards Heath, Port Talbot and Kidderminster.
The centres went under offer in November, with rival bidders including Catalyst Capital and GE Capital waiting in the wings.
Meanwhile, IM Group has pulled out of a deal with Chartwell Land to buy its majority stake in Leicester’s Haymarket centre for £58m.
Subsequent negotiations with Capital & Regional and Fairgate also ground to a halt when it emerged that no deal could be sealed without Chartwell first buying out the 7.5% interest held by David Aspin’s Munroe K, the company Aspin set up after he left BAe, and Arlington#s subsidiary Burwood House.
See Saturday’s Estates Gazette for the full version of this story.
EGi News 03/01/03
