‘£80m Wirral property deal stalls’
WARNER Estate Holdings and Lloyds Banking Group’s £80m sale of two shopping centres in Birkenhead has collapsed, after preferred bidder Addington Capital pulled out of talks, according to Property Week.
The setback comes as Westfield and Hermes Real Estate’s proposed sale of their £171m CastleCourt shopping centre in Belfast also stalled, after bidders refused to raise their offers above £145m.
The aborted sales suggest that investors are becoming nervous about the regional retail market in the wake of August’s global economic slump.
David Raven, head of shopping centre investment at Jones Lang LaSalle, said:”Transactions are tending to take longer than earlier in the year and purchasers are being a lot more considered in their approach, while vendors are having to realign their price and timing expectations in line with the market, particularly on more secondary assets.
” We are witnessing strong competition at bid stage, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get deals over the line without careful management and communication.”
Addington Capital, which has backing from AEW Europe and Tristan Capital Partners’ European Property Investors Special Opportunities Fund, had been selected as the preferred bidder for the 464,000 sq ft Grange and the 160,000 sq ft Pyramid malls in Birkenhead and was in talks to buy the schemes in a deal that reflected a yield of about 9%.
But it is understood that the fund refused to sanction the purchase after carrying out due diligence on the centre and because of wider concerns about the future of the market.
The Agora Max fund, a venture between Warner Estate and Uberior Investments, which is now part of Lloyds Banking Group, owns the malls.
Savills was instructed to market them at £83.2m, after talks with lenders to restructure a £63m loan failed. Warner Estate confirmed talks had collapsed with its preferred bidder but said “discussions with other potential purchasers were continuing”.
Other investors previously interested in the scheme are F&C Reit Asset Management, Bride Hall Developments and LaSalle Investment Management.
