- The firm said the deal is set to be completed in July
British Land has sold its 50 per cent stake in Sheffield’s Meadowhall for £360million, bringing an end to its 25 year ownership of the shopping centre.
The landlord, which is one of Britain’s biggest property developers, sold the stake to joint venture partner Norges Bank Investment Management as it shifts its portfolio away from covered shopping centres in favour of investing in retail parks.
In a trading update, the firm told investors on Monday that ‘proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes including reinvestment into retail parks’.
The deal is expected to be completed in July.
The firm paid paid £1.07billion for the shopping centre in 1999, later selling half of its holding to form a joint venture.
The sale to Norges, together with the £7million sale of some land by the joint venture earlier this year, valued the Meadowhall estate at £734million.
British Land will remain as asset manager to the shopping centre following the sale.
Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, said: ‘We have had a successful partnership with Norges over many years and are delighted to continue to work alongside them as asset managers of the centre.
‘Following the sale of Meadowhall, 93 per cent of our portfolio is now in our preferred segments of retail parks, campuses and London urban logistics.’
The Meadowhall site is located on the outskirts of Sheffield and is home to shops including Marks & Spencer, Primark and Next, as well as a distribution centre, Premier Inn hotel and two plots of development land.
The news comes on the back of the firm selling half its stake in the Euston office building to Royal London Asset Management in March.
It sold the 50 per cent stake in 1 Triton Square, Regents Place, for £192.5million with the pair now operating the building as a joint venture.
In November, British Land reported a £61million loss in the six months to September, against £32million in the equivalent period in 2022, as high interest rates hit property values.
It blamed rising yields across its West End and City of London ‘campuses’ portfolio, and elevated economic and political uncertainty for a 2.5 per cent decline in its portfolio value to £8.7billion.
British Land shares were down 0.84 per cent to 399.80p in Monday morning trading.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.