US real estate investment trust Realty Income has completed its first major UK shopping centre acquisition, buying The Lexicon in Bracknell for around £150 million, CoStar News can reveal.
The major UK shopping and leisure complex has been sold by a joint venture between Schroder Capital UK Real Estate Fund and Legal & General Capital.
JLL has handled the sale of the complex in the heart of the Berkshire town with a guide price of around £160 million initially attached. The Lexicon was developed by The Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, the 50:50 joint venture, in partnership with the local council. Principal tenants include Marks and Spencer, Primark, Next, JD and Fenwick.
US real estate investment trust Realty Income Corporation has principally focused on retail parks and supermarkets in the UK and avoided shopping centres as it has rapidly built a huge portfolio in recent years.
The mall is one of up to £900 million of major UK shopping centres close to being sold as the market ends the year with a bang.
Last week, as revealed by CoStar News, Frasers Group, the retail group set up by entrepreneur Mike Ashley, 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.
Earlier this month CoStar News revealed that Landsec was in talks to buy all of the 1 million-square-foot Silverburn shopping centre near Glasgow for up to £200 million. Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed on the sale.
The entrance of Realty into the shopping centre space could be a game changer for the market in the UK, given its recent dominance of the retail park and supermarket investment markets.