Capital & Regional is investing £78m (€90.3m) in a retail asset being sold by Meyer Bergman .

The UK retail-focused real estate investment trust said it agreed to buy The Exchange Centre in Ilford at a net 6.7% initial yield.

The 300,000sqft centre is being sold via a holding company, with completion of the deal expected this week.

Meyer Bergman has owned the asset since 2010, when it paid a reported £71m. A sale of the asset has been a possibility since mid-2016, according to UK press reports.

Hugh Scott-Barrett, Capital & Regional chief executive, said: “The acquisition provides us with an opportunity to redeploy quickly the capital released from our two recent successful disposals into an investment which offers strong income and capital growth prospects and dominates the retail offer in a large and growing cosmopolitan east London town.”

Scott-Barrett said there are significant opportunities in the area for leisure and residential development, as well as a new Crossrail link expected to open in 2019.

The acquisition is being funded from the disposal of the firm’s The Mall Camberley and Buttermarket Centre Ipswich assets.

The Exchange Centre is anchored by Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.