UK shopping centre investor Capital & Regional has acquired a controlling stake in The Mall Fund and plans to take over the remaining minority holdings in due course.
UK shopping centre investor Capital & Regional has acquired a controlling stake in The Mall Fund and plans to take over the remaining minority holdings in due course.
Announcing the news together with its first-half results, London-listed company said it purchased the 91.82% stake in July at a discount of 5.4% to its June 2014 valuation. It also raised £165 mln in capital to enhance liquidity for shareholders and completed a £375 mln refinancing of The Mall debt at an initial cost of 3.37%.
The Mall Fund owns six UK shopping centres with a total lettable space of around 27,900 m2 and nearly 700 retail units.
Capital & Regional said it plans further disposals of non-core assets in the UK and Germany after selling Lübeck Retail Park to Invesco Real Estate for just under €48 mln in May as part of its German joint venture. The disposals are aimed at reducing leverage and meeting the company’s medium-term LTV target of 40% to 50%.
The company reported after-tax profit of £11.7 mln in the first half, up from £3.7 mln in the year-earlier period. Footfall was up 1.7% year on year, outperforming the industry benchmark by 1.5%, while year-on-year occupancy increased by 1.0% to 94.5%.
Capital & Regional also said it expects to convert to a real estate investment trust (REIT) by the end of the year.
