Frasers Group, the retail group set up by entrepreneur Mike Ashley, has bought the 1.1-million-square-foot Braehead Shopping Centre near Glasgow from SGS UK Retail for an undisclosed figure believed to be around £220 million.
CoStar News first revealed the talks in September.
SGS UK Retail is the special bondholder vehicle that owns Braehead, plus Lakeside Shopping Centre, Victoria Centre in Nottingham and Harlequin Watford. The group took ownership following the collapse of Intu in 2020 and restructured and refinanced the stores in 2024 and has since delivered a comprehensive asset management programme to strengthen Braehead’s market position, operational effectiveness and sales performance.
Claire Barber, CEO of SGS UK Retail, said in a statement: “The sale of Braehead was always part of our strategic plan and through active management, we have delivered substantial value enhancement and successfully stabilised the asset, attracting new brands and increasing its relevance and appeal to customers. We have created a strong platform from which Frasers Group can continue to drive growth, leveraging its retail expertise to further unlock Braehead’s potential as one of the leading retail destinations in Scotland.
“In light of strong leasing performance and the significant progress made in discussions with brands, we continue to see significant value creation opportunities in the Group’s remaining three assets.”
Michael Murray, CEO at Frasers Group, added: “This acquisition is an important step in delivering our property ambitions and accelerating the Elevation Strategy. It cements the group’s position as a leading operator and champion of physical retail destinations while unlocking greater opportunities to serve communities with the best brands, environments and experiences possible.”
Frasers said that with an annual footfall of over 15 million visitors, the acquisition reinforces its commitment to investing in high-potential retail destinations and is a significant addition to its "strong and growing property portfolio across the UK".
Braehead’s offer has evolved significantly over the last 12 months, including the signing of the first SuperPark in the UK, with the global indoor leisure and recreation concept set to make its debut there early next year. SGS said Braehead has also out-performed the Scottish market in the last 12 months, with footfall and spend up by 3% and 4% year-on-year respectively to the end of June, significantly ahead of the Scottish Retail-Consortium-KPMG 12-month average of 0.1% sales growth for Scotland as a whole. Sixteen brands renewed or extended their leases so far in 2025.
SGS took control of four large UK shopping centres following the collapse of Intu in 2020. Last year OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, partnered with Lloyds on a £445 million club loan to SGS Group to refinance the malls.
In 2020, SGS appointed Global Mutual as asset manager alongside AlixPartners in an executive management and board role, and Savills as property manager. Claire Barber joined SGS as its chief executive in September 2024, and it then replaced Global Mutual with Pradera Lateral.
Frasers has been one of the most active investors in UK real estate in recent years. In October, it completed the acquisition of two shopping centres and a retail park comprising more than a million square feet – Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter, Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre in Maidstone and The Olympus Centre in Gloucester.
Braehead joins a number of ongoing major UK shopping centre processes at present including Silverburn in Glasgow and the Lexicon in Bracknell.
Frasers Group was advised by CBRE. JLL advised SGS UK Retail.