Asset management firm Henderson Global Investors and investment manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), have agreed to acquire the Whitefriars Quarter shopping centre in Canterbury, Kent, from UK investment trust Land Securities for £ 253 mln (EUR 377 mln).
Asset management firm Henderson Global Investors and investment manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), have agreed to acquire the Whitefriars Quarter shopping centre in Canterbury, Kent, from UK investment trust Land Securities for £ 253 mln (EUR 377 mln).
Land Securities said the sales price gave a net initial yield of 4.1% and a nominal equivalent yield of 4.85%. HGI’s Henderson UK Shopping Centre Fund and the CPP Investment Board formed a 50/50 joint venture to acquire the 56,000 m2 award-winning property. Anchor tenants include Fenwicks and Marks and Spencer.
In addition to funding its 50% stake in the joint venture, CPP Investment Board has also invested £ 150 mln (EUR 224 mln) in the Henderson UK Shopping Centre Fund, which has stakes in four shopping centres in major UK cities.
Land Securities group chief executive Francis Salway said in a press release that the company had created ‘significant value’ for shareholders through the development and letting of the shopping centre. ‘The capital from the sale of the Whitefriars scheme will be reinvested into other projects within our significant retail scheme, which currently totals over £ 1.1 bn.’
Cushman & Wakefield acted for Land Securities while Morgan Williams acted for the purchaser.
