Hammerson sells Monument Mall in Newcastle

Hammerson has agreed to sell Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Monument Mall to the Standard Life Investments UK Property Fund for £75m.

It’s one of two sales the FTSE 100 company announced on Monday, with the disposal of a small land interest in Kingston-upon-Thames to St George for £12m.

It had acquired the mall in 2011 for £28m and reconfigured it in 2013 to transform it into a high-quality shopping and dining destination, securing a number of high-end retail and leisure brands.

The deal crystallises a £24m (46%) profit on cost for the company.

"Monument Mall is a great example of how Hammerson uses its development and asset management skills to transform retail venues and deliver strong returns to shareholders,” said chief executive David Atkins.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to part fund Hammerson’s recent acquisition of the Jewel portfolio of loans in Dublin.

Atkins said the company is on track with more transactions to complete the first tranche of £200m of disposals in the first quarter of 2016.