Landsec is considering a circa £350 million bid for sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's 69% stake in Liverpool One, the major UK mall developed by Grosvenor.
ADIA appointed JLL earlier this year to seek a buyer for its stake in the 1.6-million-square-foot mall. According to its most recent valuation, the centre is valued at around £520 million.
It is understood that Landsec is among a number of parties expressing interesting in the state with a bid at £350 million representing a circa 8% yield.
The Duke of Westminster's property company developed the mall and is proud of its impact in the North West. It has a 23% stake held in its Grosvenor Liverpool Fund and manages the site. The remaining investors are understood to comprise Federated Hermes, Santander and Redevco.
Liverpool One comprises over 200 shops, more than 500 apartments, two hotels, 25 restaurants, a 14-screen Odeon cinema, four office buildings, a revitalised five-acre public park, 2,000 car parking spaces and a public transport interchange.
For a review of Grosvenor's challenging but ultimately successful development of Liverpool One, which opened in 2008 as the global financial crisis got under way, click here.
Landsec has been pressing on with a strategy to sell around £4 billion of mature assets and assets in sectors its sees as non-core, such as retail parks and leisure as well as some London offices, and reinvesting in growth opportunities, which include its pipeline of London offices and major retail. It has sold around £2 billion over the past two years.
Its major retail sites have seen strong leasing as they return to growth, according to its recent results.
Speaking to CoStar News at the results, chief executive Mark Allan said the investment opportunities the REIT is considering are the "great pipeline particularly London offices where people have held back on new developments" and retail "looks very interesting".
He added: "We are most of the way through the reset of retail rents to lower rents. This sector will return to structural growth and we are proactive in allocating capital growth to this sector."
In a statement to CoStar News about Liverpool One, Landsec said: "We’ve said consistently since the launch of our new strategy in October 2020 that we are considering various acquisition and disposal opportunities that make financial and strategic sense to the business. Unfortunately we’re not able to comment on individual opportunities or market speculation at this time.”
JLL did not comment.