British Land agrees to buy further stake in Hercules Unit Trust

5th Feb 2014 07:11

British Land has agreed to buy a further 41m pound stake in Hercules Unit Trust (HUT), a retail park property unit trust.The FTSE 100 company has also submitted an application to Schroder Property Managers, the manager of HUT, for another £35m of further units.HUT had a portfolio of £1.5bn and contracted net rent of £86.5m at the end of 2013. The portfolio includes 17 retail parks across the UK including Glasgow Fort Shopping Park and 50% of Fort Kinnaird Shopping Park, Edinburgh. Occupiers include the likes of Arcadia, Asda, Boots, Marks & Spencer, Next, Sports Direct and TK Maxx. British Land is the property adviser to HUT. When British Land acquires the minimum amount of £41m to which it is entitled under its pre-emption rights, its share in HUT will increase to 54.2% from 49.2%. HUT will be accretive to British Land's earnings. Following the transaction, HUT will be treated as a subsidiary and consolidated in British Land's accounts from March 31st. Charles Maudsley, Head of Retail at British Land, said, "HUT has some of the highest quality retail parks in the country. The purchase of additional units is in line with our strategy of focusing on retail locations which are the preferred local destination for shoppers, are flexible, affordable and capable of remaining at the heart of retailers' omni-channel offer."RD