Major UK deals see retail park, shopping mall changing hands

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jun 7, 2018

Fort Kinnaird retail park in Edinburgh, Gallagher Shopping Park in Cheltenham and Grays shopping centre have all been sold in a week of major retail investment deals.

The Crown Estate has sold its 50% stake in one of the largest retail parks in the UK, Fort Kinnaird, to M&G Real Estate for £167.25m, dissolving a joint venture with Hercules Unit Trust (HUT) called the The Gibraltar Limited Partnership.

M&G Real Estate will be the new owner of the retail park, whose tenants include Primark, River Island, JD Sports, Office, M&S,  Swarovski and Next, alongside HUT in a new 50/50 joint venture. The 560,000 sq ft destination is valued at £334.5m and was ranked fourth in Trevor Wood Associates’ list of top 10 retail parks in 2017.

The dissolved Gibraltar Limited Partnership also owned the Gallagher Retail Park in Cheltenham, which The Crown Estate has now acquired in full in a separate deal to become its sole owner.

Hannah Milne, director of regional at The Crown Estate, said: “We have enjoyed a successful partnership on Fort Kinnaird, working alongside HUT and the British Land team. We are now focused on Gallagher Shopping Park; a strong scheme in a great location where we have invested alongside our partners over a number of years to help improve the experience for shoppers.”  

Gallagher is one of the leading shopping destinations in the region, welcoming more than 7 million visitors each year. The retail park’s line-up includes popular chains like Next, Homesense, Boots and DFS. Over the last few years, £2.5m have been invested in new store frontages, landscaping and the car park at the scheme.

Additionally, NewRiver announced on Thursday the acquisition of Grays shopping centre for £20.2 million. The 177,300 sq ft community shopping centre is anchored by Peacocks, Wilko and Poundland, and is located adjacent to Grays railway station, which is used by four million passengers per year.