Capital Shopping Centres’ purchase of the 487,000 sq ft Broadmarsh Centre in Nottingham is being examined by the Office of Fair Trading.
The OFT has launched the examination to see if the £73m deal, which took place late last year, breached any competition rules. If a breach was made, the matter could be referred to the Competition Commission.
A statement by the OFT said: “Should the takeover be found to be a relevant merger situation, the OFT will further consider whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in the UK for goods or services that warrants reference to the Competition Commission for investigation and report.”
A spokesperson for CSC said the company did not expect there to be any competition issues with regard to the acquisition.
CSC agreed to buy Westfield’s 75% interest in Broadmarsh for £55m early last November. Later that month it acquired the remaining 25% from Possfund Custodian Trustee, a fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management.
CSC already owns the Victoria Centre in the city, and has submitted plans for a 540,000 sq ft extension to increase the size of the mall to 1.5m sq ft.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
