Hammerson sells Battery Retail Park in Selly Oak for £57.5m
Property giant Hammerson, owner of Birmingham's Bullring and Grand Central shopping centres, has sold the Battery Retail Park in Selly Oak in a £57.5 million deal.
It has been bought by NFU Mutual.
The retail park, covering a total of 135,000 sq ft, is home to brands including Next, TK Maxx, Homebase, Sports Direct, Halfords and, most recently, one of Iceland's upmarket Food Warehouse outlets.
Hammerson said the park "has benefitted from a proactive asset management strategy which reconfigured the park and implemented a more diverse tenant mix. The tenant line-up now caters to both homeware and fashion demand".
David Atkins, chief executive of Hammerson, said: "We have successfully reconfigured Battery Retail Park and improved the retail mix.
"There continues to be good investor demand for relevant retail destinations with solid brands and modern retailer units.
"This transaction is in line with our ongoing disposal strategy which saw the business achieve more than £400m of disposals in 2017, and provides the opportunity to invest in our development and premium outlet sectors."
Hammerson's current £10.5bn portfolio includes 23 prime shopping centres, 16 retail parks and investments in 20 premium outlet villages, and includes Bicester Village, Oxfordshire, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin and Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille.
It is currently in the process of a £3.4 billion merger with intu, owner of Merry Hill and other shopping centres including Trafford Park and Lakeside.
