Abu Dhabi sells 69% stake in Liverpool shopping centre

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund, has sold its 69 percent stake in the Liverpool One shopping centre.

As part of the deal with the Land Securities – the largest commercial property development and investment company in the UK, with a portfolio valued at around £10 billion – an unnamed subsidiary of Adia also offered a £35 million ($44 million) deferred payment facility for two years.

London-based Grosvenor Group also divested its 23 percent stake in the shopping centre, and the combined value of the 92 percent stake sale was $490 million, according to a press release issued on Monday by Land Securities.  

The acquisition is part of Land Securities’ objective to grow its investment in major retail destinations. As a result of this week’s deal, it will own and manage seven of the top-30 shopping centres in the UK.

Opened in 2008, Liverpool One has a footfall of 22 million people per year. Retail sales have grown by 5 percent year on year, in addition to upsizes and new letting with global brands such as M&S, Sephora, Uniqlo and Zara.

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“Liverpool One already has a great lineup of brands in a thriving location, and we look forward to building on this,” said Mark Allan, CEO of Land Securities.

In September, the UAE sovereign fund sold a 50 percent stake in the UK-based insurance technology company Policy Expert to private equity entity Cinven.

Adia has written off its investment in Thames Water, the UK’s largest water provider, from £263 million to just £1 at the end of last year.