Investment managers caught up in shopping centre frenzy
Demand from institutional investors for UK retail assets continued unabated yesterday after M&G and Standard Life separately snapped up shopping centres in Kent and Durham.
M&G Real Estate has bought Fremlin Walk in Maidstone from Legal & General Property for £110m. The deal follows its acquisition of Parc Trostre in Wales for £156m this summer.
Meanwhile, Standard Life Investments said it had snapped up Bishop Auckland Shopping Park in Durham for £23.6m.
Shopping centres have been caught up in a frenzy of activity this year, with deal volumes expected to hit £6.5bn compared with £3.8bn in 2013, according to Savills. The property adviser said: “Institutional investors specifically have shown an appetite for shopping centre assets, driven by the continued increase in cash inflows and the sheer weight of money available.”