Hammerson in talks over £140m sale of Silverburn shopping centre

Retail property giant Hammerson is in talks over the sale of the Silverburn shopping centre near Glasgow for around £140 million.

Shares in the company moved higher on Monday after it confirmed talks over the disposal of the site, which is a 50-50 joint venture Hammerson holds with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

Silverburn, based in Pollok, Glasgow, was originally bought by Hammerson for around £300 million in 2009.

However, the owner of Birmingham’s Bullring has been weighed down by dwindling valuations for retail properties in recent years.

It told investors in August that its short-term priority is to sell non-core parts of its real estate portfolio.

The group said any sale would help to strengthen its balance and enable it to “recycle capital for investment”.

Hammerson sold its remaining retail parks operation, which included sites in Middlesbrough and Falkirk, to Canadian investor Brookfield for £330 million as part of its disposal programme.

In a statement, Hammerson said: “There can be no certainty that a transaction will take place, but the company confirms the pricing under discussion is £140 million, which would represent a class 2 transaction.

“The company will provide a further update in due course, if appropriate.”

It comes after Hammerson revealed last month that the number of shoppers heading to its sites has improved to between 15% and 20% below pre-Covid levels.

Shares in Hammerson were 3.1% higher at 31.42p after the markets opened on Monday morning.