BEVERLY HILLS, CA, and UK-International real estate investment and services firm Kennedy Wilson and partner Varde have acquired a portfolio of eight English and Scottish shopping centers out of administration for $388 million (£250M).
Seven of the eight centers have transferred, with the final center due to close subject to customary conditions. The total equity contribution was $170 million (£110M), including $53 million (£34M) million from Kennedy Wilson, and $253 million (£163M) of financing was provided.
Located throughout England and Scotland, the portfolio of properties totals 2.3 million square feet, and 85% of its gross income comes from national retailers such as Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Asda, Tesco, River Island and Primark. The company's current asset management plan includes increasing occupancy, extending short term leases by attracting a broader range of retailers, upsizing key anchor stores, improving the food and leisure offering and upgrading the physical environment of the mall areas.
“In addition to asset management upside, there is the opportunity to benefit from improving economic and market conditions, including rental value improvement and yield compression to add value,” said Mary Ricks, president and CEO of Kennedy Wilson Europe. “We see impressive potential in this investment and look forward to capitalizing on strong interest from retailers.”
Kennedy Wilson, together with its institutional partners, has acquired more than $2.6 billion of real estate and real estate related debt globally since the beginning of 2013, including $1.9 billion in the U.K. and Ireland. Since 2010, the company and its partners have acquired $10.6 billion of real estate related investments.
Founded in 1977, Kennedy Wilson is an international real estate investment and services company headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA with 24 offices in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Spain and Japan. The company offers a comprehensive array of real estate services including auction, conventional sales, property services, research and investment management. Through its fund management and separate account businesses, Kennedy Wilson is a strategic investor of real estate investments in the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Japan.
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