Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is in talks with the Crown Estate to take full ownership of the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter.
Through his Frasers Group retail empire, Ashley is already the frontrunner to buy a 50 per cent stake in Princesshay from Nuveen, a US-based asset manager that invests the retirement savings of American teachers.
Now Frasers is angling to buy the other half of the shopping centre from Nuveen’s joint venture partner, the Crown Estate, which also runs the mall. Green Street News, the property industry news site, first reported the discussions.
If both sets of talks progress to deals it is expected that Frasers will end up spending about £80 million buying Princesshay, with the Crown Estate receiving