Victoria Gate and Victoria Quarter shopping centres in Leeds have been sold for £120m

Commercial property giant Hammerson has completed the sale of its Victoria Gate and Victoria shopping centres in Leeds as part of its strategy to dispose of non-core assets.

The £165m Victoria Gate centre, which opened on 2016, has been praised for transforming the retail scene in Leeds.

Anchored by John Lewis’s first store in the city, the arcades are also home to a range of brands including Space NK, Kiehl’s, Neom and L’Occitane.

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Hammerson announced it had completed the disposal of assets in Leeds for a cash consideration of £120m to entities associated with Redical, by means of a simultaneous exchange and completion.

Hammerson said: "Since the year end, we have completed the sale of Victoria, Leeds for £120 million."Hammerson said: "Since the year end, we have completed the sale of Victoria, Leeds for £120 million."
Hammerson said: "Since the year end, we have completed the sale of Victoria, Leeds for £120 million."

The assets comprise the Victoria Quarter shopping gallery, the Victoria Gate shopping centre, and the inter-linking Wrays Buildings, Hammerson said. The proceeds will be used to reduce net debt.

Hammerson cut its losses for the past year as it was bolstered by more than £500 million worth of sales and rebounding rental demand.

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In a statement to accompany its full year results, Rita-Rose Gagné, Chief Executive of Hammerson, said: “Since the beginning of 2021, we have made fundamental changes in our business, realigning our portfolio with £623m of disposals, significantly strengthening the balance sheet, re-setting our organisation and putting in place a clear strategy for value creation focused on our prime urban estates.

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“The pandemic has accelerated trends in our operating environment, with people engaging with physical space in new ways. Our role is to create and curate relevant, appealing and sustainable spaces for the future.

“We are already seeing the tangible results from our strategy with strong occupier leasing demand, reduced vacancies, improved collections, a lower cost base and clear path to value creation from our land bank.

“We have more to do. Today we are a forward-looking organisation with our assets at the heart of driving value creation.”

Analyst Miranda Cockburn of Panmure Gordon said: “Hammerson has many potential projects to regenerate and reinvigorate its schemes, however these require capex, and despite asset sales of £623m from the start of 2021, the LTV remains relatively high at 45% so further disposals are required.

“The shares had a good start to the year although have lost some gains recently and currently stand at +6% in the year to date.”

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