Shares jump after Klépierre approach

Britain’s property market is braced for a takeover battle for Hammerson after the shopping centre owner confirmed it had received a £4.9bn takeover approach from a French rival. Shares in Hammerson rose more than 20% to 542.4p a share yesterday after the London-listed owner said it had rebuffed a 615p-a-share offer from Klépierre. The French group, whose interest was revealed by The Times, owns more than 100 shopping centres across the Continent. It contacted Hammerson a fortnight ago. Hammerson owns or has stakes in some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres, including Brent Cross in London and the Bullring in Birmingham. It is trying to complete its own £3.4bn all-stock merger with its smaller British rival Intu, which owns Manchester’s Trafford Centre. The bid comes amid consolidation among shopping centre owners, with Unibail-Rodamco, also of France, in negotiations to buy Westfield of Australia in an £18.5bn deal. The Telegraph adds that Hammerson said on Monday that it remained “fully committed” to pursuing the Intu deal, despite concerns that its investors could vote against the all-share purchase next month. Analysts had predicted that a third party could enter the deal, and a potential swoop by Kléppiere could yet derail the Intu merger. Klépierre’s approach comes at a time of consolidation among shopping centre owners as retailers try to re-position themselves in the face of intense competition from online rivals such as Amazon, according to the FT. Click here for the full Times article Click here for the full Independent article Click here for the full Telegraph article Click here for the full FT article (£)