Wakefield’s Ridings Shopping Centre sold to NewRiver in £108m deal

NewRiver Retail, the retail property investor, is set to acquire four shopping centres, including the Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield, and two retail warehouses, with one being located in York, for £108m.

NewRiver has exchanged contracts to acquire the Neptune Portfolio, which also comprises of the Cornmill Shopping Centre in Darlington, the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff; and the Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield, for £92.3m.

The retail investor has also purchased a retail warehouse adjacent to the Clifton Moor Retail Park in York for £4.7m, the Blenheim Shopping Centre in London for £6.9m and the Daventry Retail Park in Northamptonshire for £4.1m.

These acquisitions will be funded with the £150m raised by NewRiver’s placing of 46.1m new ordinary shares.

The shipping centres are home to a range of high quality retailers and anchor stores, including Next, Primark, Tesco, Morrisons, TK Maxx, Easy Gym and Boots.

David Lockhart, CEO at NewRiver Retail, said: “Following our recently over-subscribed £150 million equity raise, we are delighted to announce the swift deployment of the majority of the proceeds into these strategic acquisitions.

“The Neptune Portfolio marks another major shopping centre portfolio acquisition for NewRiver and the combined acquisitions present a range of immediate value-enhancing asset management and risk controlled development opportunities. We are confident that these acquisitions will add significant long term value for our shareholders.”