With more than £1bn of prestige retail property across Britain currently up for sale it’s emerged that The Crown Estate is a leading bidder for one of the country’s biggest out-of-town shopping parks. Bids for Leicester’s Fosse Shopping Park — recently valued at £350m — are due today and a spokesman for the Royal property agency has already confirmed it would be interested in acquiring the 550,000sq ft complex.
“As one of the top five owners of regional retail property in the UK, The Crown Estate continues to seek opportunities that align with our investment strategy and we are considering a bid for Fosse Shopping Park in that context,” said James Cooksey, head of the organisation’s regional portfolio.
If successful the sale would be a landmark deal for The Crown Estate, whose history goes back to 1066 and which has since become one of the largest property owners in the UK with a portfolio worth £8.1bn. Under existing legislation the organisation, which manages property owned by the Queen but pays any profits to the Treasury, is not allowed to take on debt and has previously always worked with a partner.
In the past it has formed joint ventures with Land Securities to buy shopping centres. It also owns several retail properties in partnership with the Hercules Unit Trust, a venture between Schroders and British Land. However, one of the agency’s senior officials is being widely quoted as saying: “The Crown Estate is considering a bid on our own account for Fosse Shopping Park.”
Opened in 1989, the retail park on the southern edge of Leicester was one of Britain’s first major out-of-town shopping developments. Since then it has been enlarged, merging with Fosse Park South, and has been offered for sale on several occasions.
In 2004, owners Pillar Property attempted to sell the site, but withdrew when its £320m valuation was not achieved. The following year REIT Asset Management acquired Fosse Park for £308m, more than £40m less that Pillar’s asking price. And in 2006 the Northern Ireland-based Foyleside Group spent £360m to buy the retail complex. It put Fosse Park on the market in 2010 without success and is once again attempting to shed its investment.
In another retail offering, a 30 per cent stake in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent is also up for sale at more than £600m. This time the front runners are British property heavyweights, Land Securities and British Land.
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