British Land has exchanged contracts for the purchase of the leasehold interest in the Green Lanes shopping centre in Barnstaple, UK for £30 mln (EUR 35.5 mln).

Green Lanes provides 12,000 m2 of retail space and attracts nearly 5.5 million visitors to the scheme each year. It is virtually fully let (99% occupancy) and has 42 retail units. The centre is anchored by Bhs and Wilkinson with other key tenants including Top Shop/Top Man, Peacocks, New Look, Mothercare, Monsoon, M&Co and La Senza.

Green Lanes is the second shopping centre acquired by British Land in the last three months, and follows the £240 mln purchase of the Drake Circus, a 570,000 sq ft shopping centre in Plymouth. It expands British Land's shopping centre portfolio to 12 and brings the total retail acquisitions made by the group since March 2010 to £340 mln.

The purchase price represents an attractive net initial yield of over 8% with the scheme historically trading at investment yields as low as 5.5%.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, British Land said it reported a 25% increase in its third-quarter net asset value and added that it expects future buying opportunities at more realistic prices as the UK experiences a muted economic rebound.