LONDON-Troubled restaurant chain Pizza Express has recommended a #263m offer from its former chairman Luke Johnson. An earlier approach from corporate raided Hugh Osmond was rebuffed.

LONDON-Hammerson has underlined its new commitment to the out-of-town retail sector with the purchase of a 25-acre site in Sittingbourne, Kent for pounds 18.4 million ($29 million).

LONDON-Sainsbury's, the UK's number two food retailer, has put a 'for sale' sign over its specialist property trading and development arm J Sainsbury Developments.

LONDON-Royal London Asset Management has sold Ames House at 6-7 Duke Street in St James's, London SW1 to Standford Properties for pounds 8.45 million ($13.5 million) reflecting a net initial yield of 5.7%.

LONDON-Royal London Asset Management has sold Ames House at 6-7 Duke Street in St James's, London SW1 to Standford Properties for pounds 8.45 million ($13.5 million) reflecting a net initial yield of 5.7%.

LONDON-After several years of double-digit growth, total returns from commercial property investments are forecast to drop to 6.5% in 2003, according to new research from Gerald Eve.

LONDON-ProLogis has agreed a lease with the French third-party distribution goup Giraud Logistique on a 213,000-sf building at its Cergy-Pontoise distribution park to the northeast of Paris.

LONDON-Newport Holdings has bought a 51% interest in Brunswick Swansea, which is planning a major leisure scheme in Swansea, South Wales. The scheme will provide a new hotel, bars, restaurants and a car park in the city's Cafi Quarter.