The property firm Hammerson has sold its stake in the group that controls Bicester Village, the cut-price designer goods shopping centre in Oxfordshire, to the luxury market investor L Catterton in a £1.5bn deal.
Hammerson said it would raise £600m in cash proceeds from the sale of its near-40% stake in Value Retail, which also owns nine luxury shopping destinations near Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Munich. The property company plans to use the cash to pay down debt, invest in its other centres and return £140m to shareholders.
L Catterton, a private equity firm part-owned by the Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior owner LVMH, said: “With its high-quality portfolio, reputation for luxury and commitment to delivering a distinctive experience to customers, Value Retail is well positioned for growth and continued success.”
Rita-Rose Gagné, the chief executive of Hammerson, which owns a string of shopping centres including Birmingham’s Bull Ring and Cabot Circus in Bristol, said: “This is a transformational deal for Hammerson, generating cash proceeds of [about] £600m whilst removing an overweight, low-yielding and minority stake, and positioning us for accelerated growth and value creation.”
She said the deal helped to focus Hammerson’s portfolio on “prime urban real estate” and to concentrate on “higher-yielding opportunities with stronger returns, whilst enhancing returns to shareholders”.
The sale marks Hammerson’s latest disposal as it tries to reinvigorate its portfolio amid rapidly changing shopping habits. Gagné has sold off assets to focus investment on Hammerson’s urban shopping centres where it is repurposing redundant department stores space into a mix of food, leisure, services, shopping and residential developments.
Visitor numbers at shopping centres have come under pressure as a string of department stores have closed, including the collapse of Debenhams and Beales and closures by House of Fraser, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. Shopping centres are also facing heavy competition from online retailers and smaller, outdoor retail parks.
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Hammerson sold its 50% stake in its Croydon shopping centre redevelopment joint venture to its partner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield at the end of April. Last year it sold its stake in the Parisian shopping centre Italie Deux and an adjacent site to the owner of Ikea.