Hammerson nets £45.3m from sale of French shopping centre

The firm, which is leading the Victoria Gate development in Leeds, said it has exchanged contracts for the sale of its share of Grand Maine mall, based south west of Angers, to a French institutional investor.

Grand Maine comprises 8,600 sq m of retail space with 57 units over two levels, located next to a large Carrefour supermarket. The centre was refurbished by Hammerson in 2013 and 95 per cent occupancy, generating gross rental income of €3.3m (£2.4m).

David Atkins, chief executive of Hammerson, said: “Since we acquired Grand Maine in 2007, we have introduced a number of new brands and renovated the interior to improve the design and façade of the centre.

“This disposal, along with the recent sale of Bercy 2, Paris, represent an opportunity to take advantage of strong investor demand for retail real estate assets and achieve good pricing ahead of book value.

“We continue to actively manage our portfolio in France to create a platform of leading retail destinations, recycling proceeds and investing into well positioned new schemes such as our new development at Beauvais, which is due to open in November of this year.”

Hammerson was advised on the transaction by JLL. The sale is expected to complete at the end of Q3 2015.