UK REIT British Land has purchased Mayflower Retail Park on the edge of the Basildon town centre in Essex from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Scottish Widows) for £51 mln (EUR 59 mln). The purchase price represents a net initial yield of 6.3%, rising to 6.9% upon letting of the park's one vacant unit.

As part of the transaction, British Land will sell Valley Leisure Park, Croydon to Scottish Widows for a price of £28 mln, representing a net initial yield of 7.1%. As a result, the net cash investment made by British Land will be £23 mln.

Mayflower Retail Park comprises 11 retail units totalling 153,000 sq ft (14,200 m2) of Open A1 space serving a catchment population of over 300,000 people. Current retailers in the park include Homebase, Currys, Harveys, Mothercare and Next. The park is also situated adjacent to a Tesco superstore.

This transaction brings the total amount of retail acquisitions made by the group to almost £400 mln since March 2010.

Valley Leisure Park, Croydon was acquired by British Land in 2000 for £21 mln. The scheme comprises 135,000 sq ft of predominantly leisure accommodation, anchored by an eight-screen cinema.

'This is another attractive acquisition for British Land which is in line with our strategy of recycling capital into assets with higher rental and value growth prospects,' said Charles Maudsley, head of Retail at British Land. 'By refreshing and modernising the park, we believe there are significant opportunities to attract new retailers to the scheme and grow rents.'