Popular channelsQuick advice on...RSS feeds30 second guides...Company searchUseful linksThis is Money deals
About this siteThis is Money is proud to be approved by the Plain English Campaign
Australia's leading shopping centres developer, Westfield Holdings, has made its first move into Britain, taking a 75% stake in a Nottingham project it estimates will be valued at more than £400 million.
OTHER STORIES
FTSE LATEST
PBR: TOP 10 PREDICTIONS
Westfield has been selected as the preferred joint venture partner for the Broadmarsh shopping development in Nottingham by the project's current owner, the Post Office Staff Superannuation Scheme.
Westfield said the deal followed a recommendation from the superannuation scheme's adviser, fund management group Hermes, which plans to redesign and extend the existing centre to become the 'pre-eminent retail destination in the East Midlands'.
Broadmarsh covers 47,600 square metres at present but will be expanded to around 116,000 in the redevelopment, which will include two department stores.
Under the deal with POSSS, Westfield will pay £53 million for 75% of the centre, and will also issue options over eight million Westfield shares to POSSS at an exercise price of A$8.74 a share, 5% below Friday's close.
Westfield shares jumped sharply amid weaker Australian stocks today, spiking more than 5% to close at A$8.94.
'This investment in the Broadmarsh centre is the result of a long-term strategy and provides us with an excellent platform for expansion in the UK and Europe,' said Westfield chairman Frank Lowy.
'The company has investigated several opportunities in the UK market over many years.'
Westfield noted that the 1.1 million population of the City of Nottingham is expected to grow by 3.8% over the next decade, substantially higher than the average growth rate in Britain.
Hermes chairman Richard Harrold said: 'In selecting Westfield, we will be working with one of the largest shopping owner-developers in the world, with considerable experience in creating large in-town centres.'
Westfield, which claims A$17.8 billion (£7.4 billion) of shopping centre assets under management worldwide, is Australia's leading shopping centre developer and also has extensive interests in the US. Its portfolio includes 81 shopping centres in Australia, America, New Zealand and Malaysia.
In entering the British market, Westfield is following the lead of Australian property group Lend Lease, the principal developer of Bluewater in Kent.
Lend Lease last year launched a £500 million partnership, attracting some of Britain's leading institutional investors to take equity in its UK projects.
OUR TOP VIDEOS
VOTE NOWWhich taxes should be cut to boost the economy in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report?
Today our readers are talking about...