Hammerson has agreed to sell its retail parks to Canadian private equity firm Brookfield, after a difficult year for the group that saw the pandemic wipe £2bn from the retail landlord’s property portfolio.

Brookfield will pay about £350m for seven retail parks, the Sunday Times first reported, providing some much-needed capital for the struggling business.

The seven sites include retail parks in Falkirk, Didcot, Middlesbrough, St Helens, Telford, Merthyr Tydfil and Rugby.

Hammeron, which owns Birmingham’s Bulling Shopping Centre, posted a £1.7bn loss for its 2020 financial year, with its portfolio value at the end of 2020 down by nearly 36 per cent from 2019.

The retail sector has been significantly impacted by restrictions imposed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in a large fall in net rental incomes at Hammerson.

Hammerson and Brookfield have been contacted for comment.

Source:  City A.M.

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