Intu raises £40m with Sprucefield Retail Park sale

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Nov 25, 2019

Shopping centre operator Intu has sold one of its retail parks in Northern Ireland to NewRiver for £40 million, as part of efforts to fix its balance sheet.

Considered one of Northern Ireland’s leading out-of-town retail destinations, 231,000 sq ft Sprucefield Retail Park in Lisburn is anchored by Sainsbury’s and B&Q. Other tenants include Argos and Next Home. A fifth unit is currently vacant.

New River said negotiations have already begun with prospective tenants for the vacant unit, and that it will consider right-sizing other units to diversify the retail offer available at the centre.

In addition to 231,000 sq ft of retail space, the transaction includes a 1,200-space free car park and 18 acres of development land.

Intu, which is expecting like-for-like net rental income to be down by 9% this year, has seen its performance being badly hit by the recent wave of retail failures.

The owner of malls including Trafford Centre and Intu Metrocentre is selling assets across its portfolio to improve its liquidity. In Spain, where the company operates four centres, two are currently under negotiation.

Commenting on the sale of Sprucefield, Intu chief executive officer Matthew Roberts, said: “We announced our new strategy at the interim results in July. A key element of this is fixing the balance sheet which includes creating liquidity through disposals. 

“We are pleased to conclude this transaction, which along with the part-disposal of intu Derby and other sundry asset sales in 2019 brings the year to date disposals total to £268 million."