Ridings shopping centre has been sold

R​etail investor NewRiver Retail ​is to buy four shopping centres​, including the Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield.
The Ridings Shopping CentreThe Ridings Shopping Centre
The Ridings Shopping Centre

​NewRiver has exchanged contracts to buy the Neptune Portfolio, which includes ​the Ridings, the Cornmill Shopping Centre in Darlington and the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff, for £92.3m.

It has also bought a retail warehouse adjacent to the Clifton Moor Retail Park in York for £4.7m, the Blenheim Shopping Centre in London for £6.9m and the Daventry Retail Park in Northamptonshire for an initial £4.1m.

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The Ridings Shopping Centre​ in​ Wakefield​ is a ​320,000 sq ft ​covered multi-level shopping centre with 10 million annual footfall and ​a ​primary catchment population of 309,000​ and​ a 1,070 space landlord controlled car park​.​ Its key retailers are Primark, Morrisons, TK Maxx, Marks & Spencer and BHS.

NewRiver said: “The three retail assets each offer excellent value-enhancing asset management and development opportunities.”

The acquisitions will be funded by a proposed conditional placing to raise £150m, which was announced earlier this month.

NewRiver said the shopping centres are home to a range of high quality retailers and anchor stores, including Next, Primark, Tesco, Morrisons, TK Maxx, Easy Gym and Boots.

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David Lockhart, CEO of NewRiver Retail, said: “Following our recently over-subscribed £150m equity raise, we are delighted to announce the swift deployment of the majority of the proceeds into these strategic acquisitions.

“The Neptune Portfolio marks another major shopping centre portfolio acquisition for NewRiver and the combined acquisitions present a range of immediate value-enhancing asset management and risk controlled development opportunities. We are confident that these acquisitions will add significant long term value for our shareholders.”