NewRiver acquires London shopping centre and retail park

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Apr 18, 2016

NewRiver Retail, one of the UK’s largest shopping centre owner/managers, has announced the acquisition of the Broadway Shopping Centre and Broadway Square Retail Park in Bexleyheath, southeast London, for £120.25m.

The company said this was a rare opportunity to acquire high-quality retail assets in the Greater London area at an attractive price. The £120.25m prize equates a net initial yield of 6.7% and an equivalent yield of 7%, with net rental income at purchase of £8.16m per annum.

Reflecting high demand from retailers, the Bexleyheath assets are 100% occupied, and the Broadway Shopping Centre is anchored by high quality retailers such as Marks and Spencer, H&M, New Look, Argos and Boots. The Broadway Square Retail Park, which is next to it, has tenants including Sainsbury's, Poundland, JD Sports and TK Maxx.

The area has an affluent and increasing population and is set to benefit from major regeneration and infrastructure projects including Thames Gateway, Europe's largest regeneration project.

David Lockhart, NewRiver Retail Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The acquisition represents our first significant acquisition within the M25 and is our largest single shopping centre acquisition to date. This is an excellent addition to our portfolio and we are confident that our proven active asset management model will drive significant long term value for our shareholders."
 
"Following the acquisition of the Neptune shopping centre portfolio in January this year for £108 million, this second major acquisition deploys the majority of the proceeds of our £150 million equity raise completed in January 2016, demonstrating our ability to swiftly deploy fresh capital for strategically selected assets that meet our returns criteria."