Vukile and NewRiver among suitors for Capital & Regional

NewRiver REIT and South Africa’s Vukile Property Fund have each signalled their interest in acquiring community shopping centre owner Capital & Regional. Capital & Regional’s board said it received a non-binding, indicative proposal from Vukile last month regarding a possible cash-and-share offer for the entire issued share capital of the business. The board said it was also aware that its majority shareholder, Growthpoint Properties, which holds 68.13% of the company’s issued share capital, has received a “preliminary” expression of interest from NewRiver relating to a possible cash-and-share offer. No offer proposal has been made to the board yet.   The news comes weeks after Lawrence Hutchings resigned as chief executive of Capital & Regional, to take up a new role leading flexible office group Workspace. Hutchings, who has led the REIT for nearly seven years, is working a 12-month notice period. Last month, Capital & Regional recorded like-for-like growth in values and rental income in the year ending December 2023, with solid occupier demand cited as a key driver. Revenue grew to £59m in the year, from £56.8m in the previous year. Its portfolio value grew by 15.5% to £372m. Photo © Capital & Regional