British Land and USS poised to buy Drake Circus for £230m

Published 19th Nov 2010

British Land and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) are poised to buy the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth for more than £230m.

The joint venture is understood to have put the property under offer today, Property Week can reveal.

The deal represents the biggest single asset shopping centre sale this year, and is thought to be the largest since Silverburn was bought by Hammerson and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in December for £297m.

The shopping centre was put up for sale by entrepreneur David Ross’s Kandahar Real Estate, seeking £230m and a yield of 6%. Drake Circus is Kandahar’s largest asset.

It is thought there were six bids at or above the asking price. Other bidders are thought to have included Scottish Widows, Meyer Bergman and the US teachers pension fund TIAA-CREF.

The shopping centre was opened in 2006 and comprises more than 70 shops. It is the leading shopping centre in the region.

British Land, which focuses on the UK retail and London office markets, announced on Tuesday that it had increased its net asset value by 4.2% to 525p a share in the six months to 30 September.

Source: ' Property Week '

View All Latest News