intu completes £186m sale of Derby mall

Shopping centre operator intu has completed its 50% sale of its Derby mall in a deal worth £186m.

Investment firm Cale Street, which is backed by London-based Kuwait Investment Office, will form a joint venture with intu to run the Derby venue.

The deal was first revealed in April.

Matthew Roberts, chief executive of intu, said: “We are pleased to complete this innovative joint venture transaction in what is a challenging investment market in the UK. Cale Street’s equity represents a flexible and cheaper source of capital than intu’s own equity and other private equity financing sources considering investing in UK shopping centres today. This reduced cost is achieved in exchange for a priority of distributions to Cale Street.

“Whilst the transaction is earnings dilutive, the part-disposal of intu Derby is evidence of our strategy to reduce debt though disposals and part-disposals both in the UK and Spain and the transaction crystallises value significantly above the look-through value of intu Derby implied by the current share price.”