Hammerson sells seven UK retail asset parks to Brookfield £330m

Hammerson had reached agreement on the sale of its seven retail park assets to Brookfield for £330 million (R6.5 billion) cash, representing an 8 percent discount to the December 31, 2020 book value of £357m. Photo: James White

Hammerson had reached agreement on the sale of its seven retail park assets to Brookfield for £330 million (R6.5 billion) cash, representing an 8 percent discount to the December 31, 2020 book value of £357m. Photo: James White

Published Apr 22, 2021

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CAPE TOWN - HAMMERSON had reached agreement on the sale of its seven retail park assets to Brookfield for £330 million (R6.5 billion) cash, representing an 8 percent discount to the December 31, 2020 book value of £357m.

The transaction concluded Hammerson’s exit from the UK retail parks sector, a statement said yesterday.

Hammerson also recently disposed of Brent South Shopping Park and its minority interests in Nicetoile and Espace Saint Quentin, which were sold in line with their December 31 valuations.

The transaction with Brookfield took the total gross proceeds of Hammerson’s disposals this year to £403m at an average discount of 6 percent to the December 31 valuations.

The proceeds would further strengthen Hammerson’s balance sheet, reduce debt, which was £2.2bn at December 31, and increase liquidity, which stood at £1.7bn at the same date.

Hammerson chief executive Rita-Rose Gagné said: “Our immediate priority is to strengthen the balance sheet. This latest disposal is a positive step. Alongside this, we continue to focus on delivering operationally. We have welcomed back our customers in England to our flagship venues, with footfall levels well above the June 2020 reopening, and look forward to reopening our other destinations as restrictions allow, over the coming months.” | Edward West

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