28th Oct 2005 06:00
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLC28 October 2005 ‚£53 MILLION PURCHASE INCREASES INTEREST IN ELDON SQUARE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, TO 60 PER CENTThe Liberty International group has increased its interest in the Eldon SquareShopping Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, from 45 per cent to 60 per cent by theacquisition of units in the Eldon Square Unit Trust, which holds a 15 per centinterest in the centre. The consideration of ‚£53 million is in line with thegroup's June 2005 valuation. At the same time, Capital Shopping Centres ("CSC")has signed aCo-operation Agreement with The City of Newcastle, owner of the remaining 40per cent, which facilitates extending the term of CSC's leasehold interest from70 years to 250 years. CSC manage the centre.CSC has planning consent for a ‚£170 million development project for theremodelling and extension of Eldon Square, providing some 480,000 sq.ft. of newretail space including a new department store, large format retail units, a newbus station and improved pedestrian access. Enabling work has been underway forsome months and construction of the project referred to as ES West is now onsite, providing 7 large retail units on the busy Blackettbridge mall and twonew restaurants at ground level, overlooking Old Eldon Square. The new shopswill be open for Christmas trade 2006.Work on the other two phases will commence during 2006 with completions between2007 and 2009.Commenting on the transaction, Kay Chaldecott, Managing Director of CSC, said:"I am very pleased that the CSC group has been able to further increase itsinterest in Eldon Square - one of the UK's top 10 shopping centres. Our plansto remodel and extend the centre will ensure that it continues to maintain itsposition as an outstanding shopping destination."For further information contact:Aidan Smith, Finance Director, Liberty +44 (0) 20 7960 1207 International +44 (0) 20 7887 7029 Margaret Harwood, Communications Manager, CSC FURTHER INFORMATION:Capital Shopping Centres ("CSC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of LibertyInternational PLC, is the leading company in the UK specialising in theownership, management and development of regional shopping centres. CSC owns 12completed regional shopping centres in the UK of which 9 are in the UK's toptwenty-five. These centres include 4 of the UK's regional out-of-town centres:Lakeside Thurrock; MetroCentre Gateshead; Braehead, Renfrew, Glasgow; and TheMall at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol (66% owned jointly with Prudential) and 8major in-town centres including Manchester Arndale (95% owned jointly withPrudential) and Chapelfield, Norwich, which opened in September 2005. Thecompany is engaged on a substantial development programme involving both newcity centre schemes in Cardiff and Oxford, and extensions to existing shoppingcentres. Overall, CSC owns over10 million sq.ft. of retail space attracting over 210 million customer visits ayear.Situated in the heart of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, Eldon Squarecurrently provides 961,000 sq.ft. of retail space with some 150 shops andstores, including a John Lewis department store.ENDLiberty International plcRelated Shares:
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