UK retail property company Capital & Regional is considering investing up to £3 bn (EUR 4.4 bn) on shopping centres to double the value of its flagship Mall fund. The British group is reportedly in talks with institutions to raise up to £500 mln to fund the first stage of this major investment plan.
UK retail property company Capital & Regional is considering investing up to £3 bn (EUR 4.4 bn) on shopping centres to double the value of its flagship Mall fund. The British group is reportedly in talks with institutions to raise up to £500 mln to fund the first stage of this major investment plan.
C & R ceo Martin Barber said he is planning to raise £1.5 bn to increase the fund's assets to 40 malls by the next five years. The Mall fund, with assets of just over £3bn, now owns 23 malls, about 10% of the covered shopping centre market in the UK. 'We believe that over the next three to five years this fund can expand to 40 shopping centres, taking its market share to about 20%,' he said during the 2006 final results' presentation.
Since its launch in 2002, the Mall has outperformed its benchmark every year by an average of 3.8% per annum, and has shown a total return to investors averaging 26.8%.
