(August 15, 2013) — The Mars pension fund has acquired a string of UK shopping centres, tapping into the nation’s hunger for retail therapy.
The €4 billion fund’s latest purchase was announced this week by real estate specialist LaSalle Investment Management and makes Mars pension the new owner of the Livingston Designer Outlet in a deal worth £52 million.
The Scottish shopping centre has 98 retail and leisure units including a food court, and underwent a £1 million refurbishment last year, The Scotsman reported.
In June, the pension fund bought Ankerside Shopping Centre, in Tamworth, for £14.45 million after taking on the Church Square centre in St Helens for £30 million.
James Boyd-Phillips, head of retail at LaSalle told reporters at the time of the second deal that shopping centres offered short, medium, and long-term prospects for investors.
He said the Livingston acquisition helped to diversify the Mars pension portfolio further.
Figures from the UK’s office for national statistics today showed the UK shopper had been out in force in July. The estimated weekly spend across all retailing averaged £7 billion, up from £6.8 billion in June 2013 and £6.7 billion in a year ago.
Mars is not the only institutional investor to take a punt on the UK shopaholic. In October the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norway Pension Fund-Global, took a 50% stake in the giant Meadowhall shopping centre on the outskirts of Sheffield.
The fund also took a major stake in London’s prime shopping area, Regent Street.
This week, aiCIO revealed more pension funds were looking to the UK consumer, as the £13 billion Strathclyde pension intended to convert a former sports outlet into a restaurant as shoppers abandon the high street for shopping centres and web-based purchasing.
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