Bidders circle Lend Lease’s stake in Bluewater shopping centre
SOME OF the UK property industry’s biggest players are circling Lend Lease’s £550m stake in Bluewater shopping centre in what could become a heated battle for the prized site.
British Land, Land Securities, Hammerson, Westfield, Intu and M&G Real Estate are reported to have all lodged initial expressions of interests for the Kent shopping centre, according to reports by CoStar, as well as China’s Gingko Tree Investments, the US’s Simon Property Group and Hines.
A Lend Lease spokesman said the company has received “significant interest” for its 30 per cent stake and that it will look to sell “when the time right”.
The Australian industrials giant bought the old quarry site in 1994 and spent around £350m to build Bluewater, which opened in 1999.
It is co-owned by M&G Real Estate and Singapore’s GIC, which each own a 17.5 per cent and Hermes, which holds a 10 per cent stake. Lend Lease also manages a 25 per cent stake owned by the Lend Lease Retail Partnership. Bluewater was valued at £1.83bn last year.