1 October 2026
If you are covering the purchase of the Metrocentre by Land Securities, please find below a comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
"That speculation that Land Securities would buy the Metrocentre in Gateshead is now fact; Landsec has agreed to purchase the centre for just over £500m, at a 7.9% yield, which is an attractive entry price on an asset that is genuinely irreplaceable - at one point the largest shopping centre in Europe. Of course, square footage doesn't always equate to best, but Metrocentre's trading data suggests there is correlation.
"The centre somewhat fits within Landsec's unwritten "city centre shopping centre" strategy - it is on the other side of the Tyne to Newcastle town centre, but a very short journey from it. As also expected, Landsec have launched an equity raise this morning to fund the acquisition in the form of an accelerated book build.
"The upsides in the transaction are compelling. While there will be some net asset value dilution, the combined deal is expected to be earnings per share accretive from next year (starting in March 2027), and will also bring debt down marginally. Interestingly, while Landsec shares are down marginally this morning, the impact is less than we would have estimated, and no worse than the sector in general. This has the potential to change, but first impressions are that the deal is well-received and investors are willing to look through any dilutive effects (or are more focused on the accretive ones).
"This announcement was widely expected, although the lack of share price impact is a positive surprise. Investors waiting for this event to occur before buying in now have a clearer runway, although don't be surprised if the success of this morning's announcement emboldens management to continue with retail acquisitions - if they all go as well as this then we'd be happy to see more of the same."
