Hammerson sells retail parks for £330m

Hammerson has sold seven retail parks to Canada's Brookfield for £330m in a deal that completes the group's exit from owning retail parks.

The retail property owner said the cash sale was for 8% less than the sites' book value at the end of December. The 205,000 sq m of space included venues in Falkirk, Scotland; Merthyr Tydfil, Wales; and Didcot, near Oxford.

Hammerson said it would use the money from the sale to strengthen its balance sheet. Net debt was £2.2bn at the end of December and liquidity was £1.7bn. The owner of Birmingham's Bullring and Brent Cross in London said it was in talks with Brookfield on 12 April after a report that the private equity firm might pay about £350m for the sites.

The sale to Brookfield, a private equity firm, takes Hammerson's disposals in 2021 to £403m after the company decided to quit owning retail parks. Hammerson has been under severe pressure as rents have fallen and the value of its assets has plunged during the Covid-19 crisis.

Rita-Rose Gagné, Hammerson's chief executive, said: "Our immediate priority is to strengthen the balance sheet. This latest disposal is a positive step." Hammerson shares rose 1.6% to 36.87p at 14:20 BST.

The company posted a £1.7bn loss for its 2020 financial year, with its portfolio value at the end of 2020 down by nearly 36% cent from 2019. The company said on Tuesday that footfall at its English shopping centres was encouraging after non-essential retail was allowed to reopen on 12 April.

Gagné said: "We have successfully 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 local restrictions allow over the coming months."