Henderson pays £365m for three retail malls

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by Lin Freestone

Henderson Global Investors has completed one of the largest commercial property deals following its acquisition of three retail malls for £365m. The properties are expected to form the basis for a new UK retail property fund to be called the UK Outlet Mall Fund.

The three acquisitions are the flagship Cheshire Oaks near Liverpool, the Bridgend Designer Outlet in Wales and the Swindon Designer Outlet in Wiltshire. The properties were acquired from a consortium of investors including the BP pension fund, AXA, Morley Fund Management and US real estate investor Liquid Realty.

Cheshire Oaks is the UK’s largest outlet mall. The three malls form a deal with a net initial yield of slightly more than 7%, indicating the rapid decrease in values in a year when a deal like this would have been expected to achieve a much higher price.

Henderson has raised £181m in equity to finance the deal from German bank Bayerische Landesbank.

McArthurGlen, the original developer of the properties, will continue to provide property management services.

Henderson Global Investors is a leading independent global asset management firm. The company provides its institutional, retail and high net-worth clients with access to skilled investment professionals representing a broad range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, property and private capital.

Headquartered in London, Henderson is one of Europe’s largest investment managers, with £59.2bn assets under management at the end of 2007.