Liberty International's subsidiary Capital & Counties has acquired five shops under London's Royal Opera House from the Irish consortium Clarendon Properties and Anglo Irish Bank for £127.5 mln. The deal, involving some 3,158 m[sup]2[/sup] of retail space, makes Liberty International the largest landlord in the Covent Garden district. The company paid £421m last year for the market, piazza and 31 surrounding buildings in Covent Garden previously owned by Henderson and Scottish Widows.

Liberty International's subsidiary Capital & Counties has acquired five shops under London's Royal Opera House from the Irish consortium Clarendon Properties and Anglo Irish Bank for £127.5 mln. The deal, involving some 3,158 m2 of retail space, makes Liberty International the largest landlord in the Covent Garden district. The company paid £421m last year for the market, piazza and 31 surrounding buildings in Covent Garden previously owned by Henderson and Scottish Widows.

The shops' tenants include drugstore chain Boots, Nine West, Bik Bok as well as the Fred Perry sportswear store. 'The purchase of this block is of strategic importance to our long term plans for Covent Garden,' said Gary Marcuccilli, a director at Liberty's Capital & Counties. 'The retail units in the Royal Opera House block are amongst the most prime in Covent Garden.' The purchase price represents a 4% initial yield.