NewRiver offloads Oxford mall
NewRiver has exchanged contracts to sell its Templars Square shopping centre in Cowley, Oxford, to Redevco for £38.8m – a 6.3% net initial yield.
The 236,000 sq ft mall, bought by NewRiver in December 2012 for £24.6m, has plans in place for a mixed-use regeneration. The consented scheme includes 226 new homes and improvements to the public realm.
The disposal is conditional on Oxford City Council’s freeholder approval to assign the headlease release.
NewRiver has exchanged contracts to sell its Templars Square shopping centre in Cowley, Oxford, to Redevco for £38.8m – a 6.3% net initial yield.
The 236,000 sq ft mall, bought by NewRiver in December 2012 for £24.6m, has plans in place for a mixed-use regeneration. The consented scheme includes 226 new homes and improvements to the public realm.
The disposal is conditional on Oxford City Council’s freeholder approval to assign the headlease release.
Of the gross proceeds, NewRiver said £5.5m will be held in escrow as a rental and service charge guarantee and to cover the purchaser’s costs of agreeing a new headlease, but added that it expects to recover a “significant proportion” of this.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce net debt. On completion, the disposal will improve the group’s LTV of 38% by a further 300 bps.
NewRiver chief executive Allan Lockhart said the sale highlighted the “significant value we can create through our regeneration expertise”.
Tom Hoye, transaction director at Redevco UK, said: “Templars Square offers an outstanding opportunity for Redevco to do what it does best, namely helping cities become more sustainable and liveable places. We plan to take a much-loved, but dated, retail asset and transform it into a thriving urban destination which will continue to draw in the local community.”
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