Intu has completed the latest in a string of asset disposals, selling another Spanish shopping centre as it looks to turn around flagging fortunes and fix its balance sheet in the UK.

Intu said it had exchanged contracts to sell its Asturias shopping centre in Oviedo, Spain to the ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II for €290m (£245.1m).

The institutional landlord will take a €140m (£118.3m) share, with the rest going to its joint venture partner in the scheme the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The sale of Intu Asturias follows on from other disposals of Spanish assets including the shopping centre at Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza which it agreed to sell in early January 2020 for €475.3m (£401.7m).

Intu said the latest disposal is part of its “stated strategy of fixing its balance sheet”, which has been badly damaged by the past two years of retail administrations and CVAs.

It said the deal itself would deliver “net proceeds” of €85m (£71.8m) which the landlord will use to pay down debt.

Chief executive Matthew Roberts said: “We are pleased to have successfully agreed our second disposal in Spain in the last month. Our number one priority is fixing the balance sheet, which includes creating liquidity through disposals.

“This transaction, which along with the disposal of Intu Puerto Venecia, the part-disposal of Intu Derby and other sundry asset sales brings our total disposals since the start of 2019 to nearly £600m.”

The embattled landlord has also said it intends to raise up to £1bn in new equity funding ahead of the publishing of its full-year results at the end of February. 

Intu have been advised on the sales by CBRE and head of EMEA retail investment at the property firm, Chris Gardner, said: “Strong performing shopping centres in continental Europe continue to be of interest to investors, despite ongoing headwinds in the sector. Both Intu Asturias and Intu Puerto Venecia are dominant assets with improving performance.

“Whilst the retail sector continues to be challenged, investors are beginning to overlook the negative sentiment and are once again demonstrating appetite for assets of the highest quality and this sale is yet another example.”

 

 

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