£400m retail parks deal in doubt
A £400m deal to sell seven retail parks – including two in the West Midlands – could be in doubt.
Hammerson announced the sale of seven retail parks in February in a deal that would’ve been the largest UK retail parks portfolio sale in the past decade.
Elliott’s Field Shopping Park in Rugby and Forge Shopping Park in Telford formed part of the disposal to Orion European Real Estate Fund V.
However, Hammerson has said that Orion has gone cold on the deal.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday (23 April), Hammerson said: “Under the terms of the unconditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA), Hammerson and Orion are required to complete the transaction on 23 April 2020.
“Despite this, and notwithstanding continued preparation between legal and property teams up until today, Orion has notified Hammerson this morning that it does not intend to complete the transaction on 23 April as it is obliged to do under the terms of the SPA.
“Hammerson remains ready and able to comply with its completion obligations under the SPA, and is in dialogue with its counterparties at Orion. In accordance with the terms of the SPA, if Orion fails to complete on 23 April 2020, Hammerson will serve a notice to complete on Orion specifying that completion must occur by no later than 6 May 2020. If completion does not occur by such date, Hammerson will take steps to terminate the SPA and the £21 million deposit which is currently held in escrow will become immediately due and payable to Hammerson.”
The other parks in the sale include Central Retail Park, Falkirk; Cleveland Retail Park, Middlesbrough; Cyfarthfa Retail Park, Merthyr Tydfil; Ravenhead Retail Park, St Helens; and The Orchard Centre, Didcot.
