Capital & Regional picks up UK shopping mall for €47m

UK-focused REIT Capital & Regional has bought a regional shopping centre from Standard Life for £35.5 mln (€47.3 mln).

The acquisition of the Marlowes Shopping Centre in Hemel Hempstead reflects an initial yield of 7%. The purchase has been financed by a £17.8 mln loan from RBS with the other half coming from existing resources.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early February.

Capital & Regional said its wholly owned portfolio grew by £31.7 mln in the second half of 2015 to £822.7 mln, representing a 4% increase. The net initial yield was 5.9%.

Occupancy rose by 1.1% over the course of 2015 to 97.2%, while like-for-like contracted rent across its shopping centres increased by 2.8%.

CEO Hugh Scott-Barrett said: ‘The accelerating momentum in terms of letting activity and capex spend seen in the second half of 2015 confirms that we are on track to deliver the attractive returns promised as part of Capital & Regional’s asset management plans.’