LONDON-Hermes Property Asset Management has bought out MEPC's 50% stake in six UK shopping malls for pounds 115 million ($180 million). The sale marks MEPC's final withdrawal from shopping centre investment.

PORTLAND-The real estate investment company buys 232,000 sf in five new buildings for $13.5 million, completing a very profitable chain of events for the seller, Panattoni Development, and possibly starting one for Schnitzer.

LONDON-Royal London Asset Management has sold the former Littlewoods store on Broad Street and Friar Street in Reading, Berkshire to Legal & General for pounds 19.6 million ($31 million).

PHOENIX-Bargain hunters are pressuring the hotel industry as they turn to the Internet to lock in the most competitive rates. The practice gives unprecedented consumer control, says a hotel expert at the 2002 Lodging Conference in Phoenix.