- Holding will increase to 48.75 per cent after it sells 6.25 per cent on to M&G
- Bluewater generated £1bn in pre-pandemic turnover
Land Securities (LAND) is upping its stake in Kent-based shopping centre Bluewater.
The company is paying the Lendlease Retail Partnership £172m for an extra 25 per cent share in the 1.88 million sq ft centre, whose tenants include Apple, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and a 13-screen Showcase Cinema. It will then sell a quarter of this new stake to co-owner M&G (MNG), leaving its holding at 48.75 per cent.
Bluewater generated turnover of more than £1bn in the year to March 2020, before Covid-19 interrupted trade.
Landsec is likely to have bought its latest stake at a discount, analysts from Jefferies said in a note.
The 30 per cent of Bluewater that Landsec acquired for £656m in 2014 was valued on its books at £259m in March, implying a £216m valuation for 25 per cent.
The fact that this latest purchase is a 20 per cent discount on that figure shows how tough the retail property market remains. The spread of the Omicron variant also means earnings visibility remains murky. Hold.
