MORNING NEWS: Hammerson offloads Value Retail

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals, all perfectly curated to set you up for the day ahead. Hammerson has finally offloaded its stake in Value Retail. The group has sold the business to L Catterton for an enterprise value of £1.5bn, generating cash proceeds of £600m for the group. Chief executive Rita Rose Gagné said the deal would enable Hammerson to be on the “front foot to capture the exceptional value creation opportunities we see in the near, medium and long term”. Some £350m of the proceeds will be reinvested in the portfolio, £95m used to pay down debt and up to £140m returned to shareholders through a buyback. Elsewhere in retail, the race to takeover shopping centre investor Capital & Regional has heated up as the one-horse race became a two-horse race again. As markets closed on Friday, Praxis, the retail investor with some £1.2bn of assets under management, said it was considering making an offer for CapReg. It has until 16 August to announce a firm intention. The entry of Praxis into the potential bidding means NewRiver REIT has a competitor again – early in the takeover talks NewRiver had been up against South African group Vukile. NewRiver, fresh from its takeover of Ellandi, now has until 15 August to make its firm bid for CapReg or walk away. CapReg boss Lawrence Hutchings will no doubt be keen the takeover talks – which have been ongoing since April – will come to a conclusion soon so he can start his transition to chief executive of flex office group Workspace. In the world of life sciences and labs, trouble may be brewing in Oxford. Developers have warned that a proposed fivefold increase in community infrastructure levy for offices and R&D facilities by the council will render schemes financially unviable. Concerns have been raised by Stanhope and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan over the “potential deliverability” of the remaining 350,000 sq ft of science-related space in their Oxford North scheme and by ARC Oxford. ARC has committed some £1bn in Oxfordshire but said that if the new city-wide CIL rate was enforced it would render its ambitions “unviable”. And ICYMI, EG exclusively broke the news on Friday afternoon that Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk was on the hunt for lab space in Oxford. The drugmaker has instructed Colliers to find it  60,000 sq ft of wet lab space in the region. It currently occupies just 5,000 sq ft at the Innovation Building in Headington and a digital innovation hub in London’s Knowledge Quarter, N1. And in the world of residential, Roger Southam is back. Southam, known for his bright suits and bow ties and building up Chainbow and selling it to Savills in 2018, has teamed up with Canadian technology entrepreneur Saveli Kotz to shake up the lettings and management market. In an exclusive interview with EG, he says that Cohab will reboot the lettings and management sector. “This technology platform takes you from cradle to grave of the letting journey,” said Southam. “It makes the renter’s journey painless, makes the landlord’s journey painless, and lets us offer a service at in insanely low fee. And it sounded so innovative and so exciting, I’ve put my head above the parapet, come back into the UK market having been under the radar.” All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals: Hammerson offloads Value Retail for £1.5bnSoutham returns with new firm to shake up resiBCPT office sell-off continuesRed flags continue on real estate and constructionOxford R&D schemes at risk amid development charge hikeGreen light for new Bristol office blockDanish pharma giant on the hunt for Oxford labNew bidder enters race for CapRegBadenoch slams Labour housing plansPlanners give nod to Bromley office revampFirethorn Trust launches third-party management divisionHousing partnership gets nod for Kent schemeBuild houses now, fix pollution later, Labour to tell developers (£)Britain is ‘losing out’ because of tourist tax (£)Sosander to open 50 stores as demand for online fashion slows (£)Nine in ten bosses regularly work from home (£)Reeves tells town halls to use their pension funds to fuel growth (£)Historic England shifts on green improvements to heritage homes (£)Homebase owner to launch sale amid interest from The RangeDifficult economic climate takes toll on Center Parcs (£)Mapped: new ‘grey belt’ areas where Labour could build 300,000 homes (£)Andy Burnham’s £745m skyscraper loans fail to provide affordable housing (£)Buy-to-let mortgage market shrinks for the first time in almost three decades (£)