UK property company MEPC has agreed to sell its US retail portfolio, comprising eight shopping centres, to real estate investment trust General Growth Properties for $871m.
The disposal is part of an ongoing shift by the company to sell overseas assets and focus on its home market. MEPC says it is close to selling its remaining US office and industrial property.
The sale to General Growth was achieved via the sale of the stock in the US companies that own the centres, and the implied property value represents a surplus of 9% over the book value of the assets. Net operating income from the properties, which are located from Los Angeles to New Orleans, was $56.3m in the year ended September 1997.
General Growth has expanded rapidly through portfolio acquisitions; in the last four years the company has bought 68 malls worth $4.6bn.
