Frasers Group, which has recently been snapping up failing highstreet businesses left, right and centre, is now in talks with the Crown Estate to take full ownership of the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter.
Last month, rumours came to light that Mike Ashley’s retail empire is the frontrunner to buy a 50% stake in Princesshay from Nuveen, a US-based asset manager that invests the retirement savings of American teachers.
Today it has revealed that Frasers is working on acquiring the other 50% of the shopping centre from Nuveen’s joint venture partner, the Crown Estate, according to The Times.
If both sales are agreed, Frasers is looking to spend approximately £80 million buying Princesshay.
The Princesshay Estate spans 630,000 sq ft and features more than 60 brands within the shopping centre including Levi’s, Oliver Bonas, Next and Zara.
This isn’t the first time Frasers has set its sights on snapping up a shopping centre. Last March, Frasers Group purchased The Mall in Luton for £58 million, further demonstrating its “ongoing investment and commitment to the long-term future of physical retail”.
Just months later, in July 2023, Ashley made a bid to purchase an outlet shopping centre on the outskirts of Leeds as he continued to snap up retail property across the UK. The billionaire soon after purchased Junction 32, which lies just off the M62, near Castleford. Junction 32, which boasts 250,000 sq ft of retail space, is home to just shy of 100 stores, including outlets for Nike, Barbour and Adidas.
Despite shopping centres suffering the blow of losing BHs, Topshop and Debenhams all in one sweep, Frasers Group is placing their bets behind the pendulum shifting and the decade-long slide in retail property to a halt.
