British Land invests in retail parks following Meadowhall sale

Property development and investment company British Land has acquired a host of retail parks across the UK in a 240-million-pound purchase, following the sale of its stake in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre for 360 million pounds in May.

In a statement, British Land said the acquisition aligned with its plan to grow its retail park portfolio, and its 240 million pound investment reflects a blended net equivalent yield of 7.4 percent.

Since April, the property development and investment firm has secured six retail parks in Didcot, Andover, Bangor, Salisbury and Speke.

It has acquired Orchard Centre in Didcot and Cyfarthfa Shopping Park in Merthyr Tydfil from Brookfield; Enham Arch Retail Park in Andover, Queen’s Drive Retail Park in Kilmarnock and St David’s Retail Park in Bangor acquired from M7 Real Estate; and Southampton Road Retail Park in Salisbury.

In addition, British Land has acquired the remaining 12.5 percent interest in New Mersey Retail Park in Speke.

Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, said: “We are seeing good opportunities to allocate capital into retail parks and have swiftly delivered our plan to fully offset the earnings dilution from the 360 million pound Meadowhall disposal with the acquisition of 240 million pounds of high-quality retail parks at attractive yields.

“With low capex requirements, parks offer attractive cash returns and, with 99 percent occupancy, our portfolio is delivering strong rental growth.”