British Land Raises Pounds 50M With Further Meadowhall Securitisation

LONDON-British Land has taken advantage of strong rental growth at the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield to issue another £50 million ($80 million) of bonds securitising the rental income from the centre. In November 2001 it issued an initial £825 million ($1.3 billion) of similar bonds.

BL said the sale of the bonds has been enabled by the successful realisation ofadditional income at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, through rent reviews and newlettings. Peter Clarke, Joint Head of Asset Management for British Land said “We havenow raised in aggregate £875 million from this securitisation, over 80% of ouroriginal net purchase price. The additional income achieved from lettings andrent reviews at Meadowhall underlines its continuing attractiveness to retailersand shoppers alike.”

The issue of the bonds coincides with the announcement by the Chancellor of theExchequer of the abolition of stamp duty in disadvantaged areas, which will include Meadowhall as part of the of the lower Don Valleyin Sheffield. The stamp duty changes alone would have boosted the September 2002 valuation of the centre by more than £50 million ($80 million) . In addition, lease duty payable by tenants on newleases is also expected to be exempted.