Legal & General funds spend nearly £50m Christmas shopping

Two retail sites in Stafford have been sold by Jersey-based LXB Retail Properties in deals worth nearly £50m.

It has sold its investment at Riverside, which is home to 13 retailers including Marks and Spencer and Primark, to a trust managed by Legal & General for £36.8m.

LXB has also sold the Odeon cinema and restaurant development at Bridge Street, which is currenly being built, for an estimated £8.9m to Legal & General funds.

Tim Walton, chief executive of LXB Adviser, said: “The sale of Riverside and Bridge Street at Stafford represents a further significant step in effecting an orderly disposal of the group’s remaining assets and once the sale of the leisure element is completed, concludes the group’s activities in Stafford.”

The Riverside sale is expected to complete in one month and will result in LXB receiving £10.2m in cash after the repayment of borrowings.

The final price for Bridge Street will be agreed when construction is completed in the second half of 2018. The 53,600 sq ft development includes the six screen Odeon cinema and seven restaurant units, two of which are open and let to Nando’s and Frankie & Benny’s.

LXB expects to receive £4.3m-£4.8m cash, once the deal is agreed and repayments are made.