A half share in the massive Meadowhall Shopping Centre at Sheffield has been sold to a Norwegian Government wealth fund for £360m.
Property giant British Land has sold the 50% share in the shopping centre to Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages revenues from Norway’s oil and gas resources and is said to be the largest single owner of company shares in the world’s stock market. Taking into account an earlier sale of £7m worth of ancillary land, the deal values the Meadowhall Estate at £734m, British Land said.
British Land said the deal was in line with its strategy to focus on retail parks and reduce exposure to covered shopping centres. Proceeds after net debt of around £200m are expected to total £156m, which the company said would be used for general corporate purposes including reinvestment into retail parks.
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As part of the deal, British Land will remain as asset manager at Meadowhall, earning a fee for that work. The deal is expected to complete in July.
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% of our portfolio is now in our preferred segments of retail parks, campuses and London urban logistics. We will continue to grow our retail park portfolio; with low capex requirements parks offer attractive cash returns and at 99% occupancy we are delivering strong rental growth.”
Meadowhall, which lies just outside the top 10 of the UK’s largest shopping centres, opened in 1990 on a former steelworks site between Sheffield and Rotherham. Its main shops include Marks & Spencer, Next, Primark and Flannels.