The owner of Birmingham’s Bullring, Hammerson, has announced plans to sell its portfolio of out-of-town retail parks to focus on “flagship retail destinations”.
The UK shopping centre operator hopes to offload £1.1 billion of properties by the end of 2019, including the sale of Bristol’s Imperial retail park.
“Through increasing the level of disposals, including exiting the retail parks sector, we will now focus solely on winning destinations of the highest quality: flagship retail destinations and premium outlets,” said David Atkins, the Hammerson chief executive on Tuesday.
“These are the venues we believe will maintain relevance and outperform against the shifting retail backdrop,” he added.
The group also made the decision the to abandon the £3.4 billion buyout of rival Intu in April after investors expressed concern over the health of UK retailers.
Directors of the group said they believed that the £3.4 billion deal with Intu was “no longer in the best interests of shareholders.”
“It is clear that the heightened risks to the Intu acquisition now outweigh the longer-term benefits. We have a clear strategy that has delivered consistent, strong returns on a standalone basis,” said Atkins in April.
Speaking about the decision to offload properties, Atkins said it was important in the group’s new strategy to address the shift in the wider retail market.
The decision comes amid Britain’s department store chains and other high street retailers struggling against high costs and competition with online retailers.
Debenhams (LON: DEB) has issued three profit warnings since December and House of Fraser has announced plans to close 31 UK stores.
Shares (LON: HMSO) rose 1.6 percent to 534p.
