Shopping centre deals worth £2bn

Overseas buyers were thought to be circling two major UK shopping centres in separate deals valuing the assets at almost £2bn.

By The Newsroom

Published 12th Mar 2012, 10:10 BST

The giant Meadowhall shopping centre in South Yorkshire – one of the UK’s biggest malls with 30 million visitors a year – has attracted the attention of sovereign wealth funds such as China’s CIC, the Sunday Times said.

It has been put on the market by joint owners British Land and London & Stamford with an estimated £1.6bn price tag. The latter firm reportedly wants to sell all of its 50 per cent stake, while British Land plans to keep 25 per cent and will continue to manage the shopping centre.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Westminster’s property company, Grosvenor, is understood to be selling Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke for around £300m. According to the Sunday Telegraph, bids are due to close on Friday, with five international investors in the running.