Intu Properties has bought malls in The Midlands, Derby and Northern Ireland worth £863 mln (€1.03 bn) from Westfield Group, as the listed, Australian mall operator sheds provincial UK assets.
Intu Properties has bought malls in The Midlands, Derby and Northern Ireland worth £863 mln (€1.03 bn) from Westfield Group, as the listed, Australian mall operator sheds provincial UK assets.
The malls are located at Merry Hill near Birmingham, Derby in the north, and Sprucefield in Northern Ireland. Merry Hill and Derby will cost around £400 mln each (€480 mln), and are the 13th and 18th largest malls in the country, according to rankings by property consultancy PMA. Sprucefield is valued at £68.3 mln (€82 mln).
The assets are owned by Westfield and various JV partners. Westfield will receive £597 mln (€716 mln).
The group’s CEO, Steven Lowy, said the deal, 'continues the strategic repositioning of the international portfolio in line with our focus on investing and operating iconic retail destinations in major world cities.'
Westfield will retain its two large malls in London, at Shepherd’s Bush and Stratford, and is developing a 200,000 m2 asset in Croydon, south of the UK capital, and one of 170,000 m2 in Milan, Italy.
Intu CEO David Fischel called the deal, 'a rare and attractive opportunity to acquire a further two prime shopping centres in line with our strategy to focus on the UK’s largest and most successful destinations.'
The deals are expected to close in mid-2014.