Deka goes shopping at Cambridge Retail Park

  Deka is preparing to make its debut in the out-of-town retail investment market.   The German fund is in talks with Henderson Global Investors’ UK retail warehousing fund about buying one of its best-performing assets – the 233,000 sq ft Cambridge Retail Park.   The fund is understood to have offered around £100m – a circa 5.75% yield – for the park, which is positioned between two large ASDA and Tesco supermarkets just outside the affluent university town.   Although Deka has recently been on an acquisition trail in the City, buying 1 Old Jewry, EC2, for £79.5m and 50 Finsbury Square, EC2, for £115m – both from Standard Life Investments – Cambridge will be the first retail acquisition for the fund in almost a decade.   It bought St Enoch’s in Glasgow for £160m in 1996 and the Marlowes shopping centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, for £45m in 1999. The centres were sold in 2005 and 2001 respectively.   A source said: “Since Deka was last investing in the UK four to five years ago, there has been a real change in its strategy. It is keen to diversify so is not just considering City offices but nationally is looking at retail and logistics.”   Elsewhere, the Crown Estate is in negotiations with SEGRO to buy its 200,000 sq ft retail park in Slough, Berkshire. It will pay around £90m – a 5.5% initial yield – for the Bath Road scheme.   CB Richard Ellis is advising the Crown, Deka and SEGRO; Morgan Williams is acting for Henderson.   samantha.mcclary@rbi.co.uk