Land Secs and British Land sell shopping centres for €224m

Land Securities and British Land have exchanged contracts to sell the Bon Accord and St Nicholas shopping centres in Aberdeen to F&C REIT for £189 mln (€224 mln).

The shopping centres were jointly owned by the two companies through the Scottish Retail Property Limited Partnership, a joint venture formed in March 2004. Land Securities contributed the Bon Accord centre and British Land contributed the St Nicholas centre to the partnership.

The joint venture was originally set up as a seven-year partnership and has come to a natural end, with the external debt expiring last year.

Land Securities executive director Richard Akers said: 'After a number of successful asset management and refurbishment initiatives, the sale of the Bon Accord and St Nicholas centres is in line with our strategy of recycling capital into other opportunities across our portfolio.'

Charles Maudsley, head of retail for British Land, said: 'We are taking advantage of the improved sentiment in the investment markets and are delighted to have executed a number of sales recently.'

Cushman & Wakefield acted for the Scottish Retail Property Limited Partnership and CBRE acted for F&C REIT.

The Bon Accord and St Nicholas centres together form Aberdeen's prime retail pitch, positioned between John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. They total 460,000 sq ft across more than 75 retail units, and are anchored by Next, Boots and New Look.