Business | Business News Shopping centre giant Hammerson has sold off its stake in the owner of Bicester Village in a deal worth £1.5 billion. Shares in Hammerson lifted on Monday morning after it announced the sale of its Value Retail business to private equity firm L Catterton, backed by French luxury good giant LVMH ( Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy).
Hammerson, which also owns Birmingham’s Bullring, said the sale will generate around £600 million in cash proceeds. This is a transformational deal for Hammerson, generating cash proceeds of around £600 million whilst removing an overweight, low-yielding and minority stake, and positioning us for accelerated growth and value creation Rita-Rose Gagne, Hammerson The firm told investors it will be able to reduce its debts, invest in other assets and hand up to £140 million to shareholders through a buyback as a result. It added that the deal would also help support its strategy to focus on urban retail real estate.
Hammerson owned almost 40% of the business, which owns nine luxury shopping destinations, including sites near Barcelona, Paris and Milan. We are at a point in the cycle where I can now be on the front foot to capture the exceptional value creation opportunities I see in the near, medium and long-term Rita-Rose Gagne, Hammerson Rita-Rose Gagne, chief executive officer of Hammerson, said: “This is a transformational deal for Hammerson, generating cash proceeds of around £600 million whilst removing an overweight, .