AXA RE completes €336m Cabot Circus mall deal

AXA Real Estate has completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in Cabot Circus shopping centre in the UK city of Bristol for £267.8 mln (€335.5 mln).

The transaction was signalled in August 2014 and was conditional on EU merger control approval, which has now been received.

AXA bought the half share from UK REIT Land Securities, which had a 50:50 joint venture with Hammerson.

Under the deal, Hammerson, also a UK REIT, will retain its 50% stake in Cabot Circus and be responsible for the management of the centre, including leasing and marketing. AXA Real Estate will have a strategic asset management role on behalf of its clients.

JLL acted as adviser to Land Securities.

Cabot Circus is one of the UK’s top 20 shopping centres. It comprises 127,270 m2 of retail, leisure, car parking, residential, hotel and student accommodation. The centre was one of the largest retail-led city centre urban regeneration projects in the UK when it opened in September 2008. It has a residential catchment population of 2.4 million and recorded an annual footfall of 18.2 million visitors in 2013.