Hammerson to sell Paisley retail park for £67m

The property developer said on Monday that it has agreed to sell Abbotsinch Retail Park in Paisley to Ashby Capital. The sale price represents a net initial yield of 7.8% and is 3% below book value as at 30 June 2019.

Abbotsinch is located 5 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.

Since its acquisition of the site in 2012 for £42m, Hammerson has added more than 8,700 square metres of retail floor space 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.

Hammerson said that 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 deal means that it has now exceeded its minimum disposal target, of in excess of £500m in the year, having achieved £523m of sales in total.

Chief executive David Atkins said: "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."

At 1200 BST, the shares were down 0.6% at 282.40p.