Australian giant Multiplex is trimming its UK holdings, fearing it has overexpanded in the UK.
Six months after paying £585m for private property group Chelsfield, in a jv with fellow Australian developer Westfield and the Reuben brothers, Multiplex is expected to sell out of all its Chelsfield holdings.
This week, it sold its 12.5% stake in the 1.6m sq ft White City project to Westfield. Simon and David Reuben also sold their 12.5% stake in the shopping mall development to Westfield as part of the £65m deal.
Westfield and the Reubens are now eyeing the rest of Multiplex’s Chelsfield shareholdings (see box).
A spokesman said: “We decided to sell because we had limited control and thought the funds from a sale would be better deployed elsewhere. This is a consolidation period for Multiplex and we are starting to sort through the portfolio. It’s about getting the right balance.”
Westfield is now joint owner of White City with German open-ended fund CGI.
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Multiplex: UK development pipeline of well over £10bn. Multiplex-Reuben jv owns a 50% stake in Stratford City (with the Reubens, while Westfield has a 25% stake); half of the 80-acre Paddington Basin site; plus 50% stakes in retail centres in Aberdeen and Rushmere, NI. The jv has outright ownership of shopping centres in Kirkcaldy and Newcastle and a 25% stake in the Sapphire Retail Fund in which Westfield also has a 25% stake in this fund. Westfield also has full ownership of the Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley, retail centres in Bradford and Sprucefield and its 50% stake in White City. |
