London's U and I Group acquires Kingsland shopping centre for over £16m

U+I, a specialist regeneration developer and investor, has announced the sale of Kingsland shopping centre, in Thatcham, for £16.1m from its investment portfolio.

This comprises both the sale of the Waitrose foodstore to Knight Frank Investment Management on December 22 2017, as well as the remaining retail to Sheet Anchor Evolve Limited, which happened yesterday, January 31.

The combined sale price was above book value as at August 31 2017, reflecting a blended yield of 5.86 per cent. This latest sale takes disposals in our investment portfolio to £38.9m for the financial year to date.

Matthew Weiner, chief executive of U and I Group, said: “The sale of the Kingsland Shopping Centre marks further progress on our investment disposals strategy.

“We are pleased to have secured this sale above book value and are well placed to acquire new assets that align with our focus on regeneration.”

During its ownership, U+I’s asset management skills added significant value to Kingsland Shopping Centre. This included extending the lease on the anchor Waitrose food store by 15 years in 2015.