Stores let to Marks & Spencer across the UK will be sold for £500m, 15 years after the British retailer first sold the units for £348m to raise funds.
According to The Telegraph, Landlord Topland Group has appointed agents at CBRE to find a buyer for the 76 stores, 13 of which are in prime London locations such as Camden, Chiswick, Clapham and Putney.
Due to the stores’ location, the portfolio generates over £31m annually. It is likely that significant interest will be generated as a result.
Topland first acquired the properties from M&S as part of a 78-store portfolio for £348m in 2001, agreeing to lease the stores back to the retailer in the process. M&S wanted to make cash from its assets in order to return around £2bn to shareholders at the time, writes The Telegraph, also cutting more than 4,000 jobs, closing its 38 European stores and selling its two US subsidiaries.
Since then, the high street giant has grown to occupy 852 stores in the UK and 480 stores internationally. It is not expected to leave the stores being sold once they change hands.
