Hammerson PLC Acquisition of Cergy 3 shopping centre, France (0960U)

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RNS Number : 0960U

Hammerson PLC

19 October 2017

Hammerson plc

Acquisition

19 October 2017

Acquisition of Cergy 3 shopping centre, France

Hammerson plc ("Hammerson") announces that it has completed the acquisition of the 11,000m(2) shopping centre Cergy 3 adjoining its centre Les Trois Fontaines, Cergy Pontoise, Paris for EUR 81 million (GBP72 million) from a private vendor.

Les Trois Fontaines is established as the leading shopping destination for the Val d'Oise region of Paris and is one of Hammerson's flagship assets in France. This acquisition of the adjoining Cergy 3 centre strengthens Hammerson's investment by increasing the scale of the retail platform and growing catchment share. It also supports an enhanced customer experience by providing the opportunity to manage leasing and consumer initiatives across both adjoining sites.

Les Trois Fontaines is trading well, in particular benefiting from a recent refurbishment. Hammerson is progressing with plans for a 33,000m(2) extension of its centre alongside a wider project by the city authorities in Cergy Pontoise. The proposed extension would take the total retail space to over 95,000m(2) with 3,700 car park spaces, 230 stores and an attractive restaurant and leisure offer to create one of the leading retail centres in the Paris region. The extension plans are supported by the co-owners, Auchan hypermarket, and the city authorities. Building permits and retail consents have been obtained, a contractor has been selected and pre-letting is progressing well to be in a position to start in 2018.

Cergy 3 is anchored by FNAC and has 46 units let to retailers and restaurants including Grande Récré and Foot Locker producing EUR 3.2 million (GBP2.8 million) of rental income. Asset management initiatives have been identified as part of the extension project to create additional value.

David Atkins, Hammerson CEO, commented:

"The purchase of Cergy 3 strengthens our retail presence in the affluent Western catchment of Paris adding to the scale of Les Trois Fontaines, which trades amongst the top French shopping centres. It allows us to manage all leasing and ensure a consistent quality across the whole centre. The future development of Les Trois Fontaines provides the opportunity to further enhance one of Hammerson's flagship retail schemes in France adding new international fashion operators and increased dining and leisure."

ENDS

For further information:

Hammerson

David Atkins, CEO

Tel: [phone]

Rebecca Patton, Head of Investor Relations

Tel: [phone]

Lindsay Dunford, Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: [phone]

Note: the announcement above has also been released on the SENS system of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Notes to Editors

Hammerson is a FTSE 100 owner, manager and developer of retail destinations in Europe. Our portfolio of high-quality retail property has a value of around GBP10.5 billion and includes 23 prime shopping centres, 17 convenient retail parks and investments in 20 premium outlet villages, through our partnership with Value Retail and the VIA Outlets joint venture. Key investments include Bullring, Birmingham, Bicester Village, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin and Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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October 19, 2017 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)