// Intu shares drop 27.1% after Hong Kong-based investor pulls out of talks
// Link Real Estate Investment Trust was understood to have been in talks with Intu, alongside Peel Group
// Shares had climbed nearly 30% on Monday on expectations of a deal
Intu has seen its shares drop after a major Hong Kong-based retail property investor pulled out of talks over an emergency cash call.
Shares in the shopping centre owner fell by 27.1 per cent after Link Real Estate Investment Trust pulled out, a day after confirming discussions.
Intu said it “remains engaged” with shareholders and potential new investors over a possible equity raise.
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Link was understood to have been in talks with Intu, alongside Peel Group, which already owns 27.3 per cent of Intu.
Shares had climbed nearly 30 per cent on Monday on expectations of a deal.
A Link spokesperson said: “Link remains interested in opportunities in the UK, but our negotiations with Intu have not reached an agreement.”
Following a year that saw retailers collapsing into administration and taking out CVAs to slash rent bills, Intu said it suffered from the demise.
Despite Intu’s woes, Springboard recently found that shopping centre footfall had risen for the first time in almost three years during January.
Customer traffic to shopping centres edged up 0.2 per cent last month, marking the first increase since March 2017. It was also only the third month in the last four years that footfall had grown.
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