Landsec splashes £490m for 92% stake in Liverpool One
Landsec has bought a 92% stake in the 1.7m sq ft Liverpool One from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Grosvenor for £490m.
Some £35m of the purchase price due to ADIA, which owned a 69% stake in the Liverpool shopping centre, is deferred for two years.
The income return on Landsec’s initial £455m outlay is expected to be 7.5%.
Landsec has bought a 92% stake in the 1.7m sq ft Liverpool One from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Grosvenor for £490m.
Some £35m of the purchase price due to ADIA, which owned a 69% stake in the Liverpool shopping centre, is deferred for two years.
The income return on Landsec’s initial £455m outlay is expected to be 7.5%.
Landsec has been seeking to invest heavily in the UK’s prime shopping centre for around a year, having announced its conviction on the sector in May and setting aside £600m to invest. It is understood to have bid on a number of prime assets, including a previous play on Liverpool One, but had failed to table a winning bid.
With this acquisition the REIT will now own and manage seven of the top-30 shopping centres in the UK.
Landsec chief executive Mark Allan said: “The top 1% of the UK’s shopping destinations provide brands with access to 30% of all in-store retail spend, which is why we continue to see brands focus on fewer, but bigger and better stores in the best locations. As such I am delighted that we have added another top-ten centre with a highly attractive return profile – meaning our unique portfolio now includes seven of the top 30 centres in the UK.
“Liverpool One already has a great line-up of brands in a thriving location and we look forward to building on this with our leading operating platform to further add to its exciting growth story.”
James Raynor, chief executive at Grosvenor Property UK, said: “Liverpool One is a phenomenal destination and we are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished with and for the city over the last 25 years. It’s not only one of the most remarkable regeneration stories, redefining what long-term investment and partnership can achieve, it continues to be one of the UK’s most successful retail and leisure destinations. And, under the unified ownership and management of Landsec, we know it will continue to thrive.
He added: “Looking ahead, we have ambitious plans to grow and diversify the business and we will reinvest the proceeds from the sale in our core portfolio including our 10-year programme of investment in London and residential debt business, which has supported the delivery of 3,370 homes in just two years.”
