UK's Hammerson to sell stake in Bicester Village owner to LVMH backed private equity firm
Updates share move, adds details on debt, analysts' comment
July 22 (Reuters) -UK shopping mall owner Hammerson HMSO.L said on Monday it is selling its entire 42% stake in luxury shopping centre operator Value Retail to LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton for an enterprise value of 1.5 billion pounds ($1.94 billion).
Shares in Hammerson were up 4.5% at 30.34 pence at 0842 GMT after initially jumping 10%.
UK-based Value Retail is the developer and operator of luxury shopping destinations across Europe and China including Bicester Village in Britain.
Hammerson said it will receive cash proceeds of 600 million pounds from the sale of its stake and will use the funds to reduce its net debt and invest in assets in its core markets.
The stake sale in Value Retail, representing a 24% discount to its 2023 gross asset value, is the latest in a long disposals-led restructuring of Hammerson, which had a net debt to core profit multiple of 8 at the end of 2023, down from 10.4 a year earlier.
The deal comes at a time when the luxury sector - from fashion retailers to carmakers - is struggling with weak demand across the globe amid a subdued economic outlook, forcing firms to focus on costs-saving steps.
Peel Hunt analysts said in a note that Hammerson's long-awaited stake sale was "positive news", and estimated that its net debt to core profit multiple could now reduce to 5.1.
Since CEO Rita-Rose Gagné took over in 2020, Hammerson has been selling off its shopping centres to tackle its debt pile, which it cut by 23% last year to 1.33 billion pounds by the end of 2023. The company's market capitalization is currently 1.45 billion pounds, according to LSEG data.
Following the sale of its stake in Value Retail, Hammerson intends to adopt a payout policy for an ordinary dividend of about 80-85% of adjusted earnings and a share buyback worth 140 million pounds. The company also announced a 1-for-10 share consolidation.
In 2016, Catterton, LVMH LVMH.PA and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, partnered to create L Catterton.
L Catterton has invested in real estate as a co-developer in large projects anchored by luxury retail, including Miami Design District and Royalmount projects in North America.
($1 = 0.7746 pounds)
Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Susan Fenton
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