Hammerson reaches £577m of disposals with £54m St Oswald’s sale

Hammerson has exchanged contracts on the sale of St Oswald’s Retail Park, Gloucester, to a local authority for £54m, taking its total to £577m in disposals this year.

The 20,900m2 scheme, which is located to the north of Gloucester city centre offers a range of bulky goods, retail and leisure space over two terraces. Flagship tenants include Homesense, B&Q and Wren Kitchens.

Hammerson said the sale price reflects a net initial yield of 8.5%, and is 8% below the 30 June 2019 book value. Hammerson originally developed the site in 2005, and has since increased the overall number of units on the park to “improve the brand mix”.

Following this transaction, Hammerson has achieved £577m of disposals in 2019, exceeding its minimum disposal target, of in excess of £500m, for the financial year. This includes the sale of a major stake in its Italie Deux flagship destination in Paris for £423m, announced in July, as well as additional retail park disposals.

David Atkins, Hammerson chief executive, said: “Despite a challenging investment market, we are successfully executing disposals in line with our priority to reduce debt and strengthen our balance sheet.

“These transactions also give us the flexibility to capitalise on the opportunities we see in the market, particularly with regards to our City Quarters pipeline, which is core to the future direction and success of our business.”