Hammerson has exchanged contracts for the sale of Abbotsinch Retail Park, Paisley to Ashby Capital for £67m.
The sale price represents a net initial yield of 7.8% and is 3% below book value as at 30 June 2019.
Covering 24,600 sq m of floor space, Abbotsinch is located five miles west of Glasgow and is fully let to a high quality line up of brands including an anchor B&Q, Dunelm, Tapi and Natuzzi.
Hammerson acquired the site in 2012 for £42m and has added over 8,700 sq m of retail floor space since then through phased developments, at a cost of £17m. This expansion brought eight new brands onto the scheme, increasing the tenant line up from six to 14, and cemented Abbotsinch’s position as the leading furniture and homeware retail park in Scotland. As a result of these works, the average rent per square foot rose from £17.78 in 2012 to £20.95 in 2019.
Together with the sale of a major stake in its Italie Deux flagship destination in Paris for £423m in July, and additional retail park disposals, this transaction means that Hammerson has now exceeded its minimum disposal target, of in excess of £500m in the year, having achieved £523m of sales in total.
David Atkins, Hammerson Chief Executive, said: “Our absolute priority is to reduce debt, and with this deal we have exceeded our target of over £500m in disposals in 2019. We continue to progress negotiations on additional assets across the portfolio. Disposals enable us to prove the value of this business and strengthen our balance sheet, and also give us the flexibility to benefit from the opportunities that will arise in the coming years, particularly with regards to our City Quarters pipeline.”
RPA Perspective In May Hammerson exchanged contracts for the sale of Dallow Road Retail Park, Luton to a Private Equity purchaser for £24m.
The retail park covers a total of 10,100 sq m and has a prominent location on the outskirts of Luton town centre. Hammerson acquired the site in 2002 and subsequently redeveloped it in 2006. The scheme is currently occupied by a B&Q warehouse and an Aldi foodstore alongside a 670-space car park.
The sale price for Dallow Road represents a net initial yield of 7.6% and was 6% below book value as at 31 December 2018.
Atkins said at the time that the company was in “active dialogue with buyers across a selection of assets totalling over £900m. We firmly believe that deleveraging will place Hammerson in the best position both now and into the future which will strengthen our balance sheet and provide the business with the flexibility necessary to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise over the coming years.”
