Hammerson

Last updated

Hammerson plc
Company type Public limited company
Industry Property
Founded1942
Founder Lewis Hammerson
Headquarters London, England
Key people
Robert Noel (Chairman)
Rita-Rose Gagné (CEO)
ProductsInvestment, Property management
RevenueIncrease2.svg £134.3 million (2023) [1]
Increase2.svg £(14.6) million (2023) [1]
Increase2.svg £(51.4) million (2023) [1]
Website www.hammerson.com

Hammerson plc is a major British property development and investment company. The firm switched to real estate investment trust (REIT) status when they were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index; it is also a constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe index, among others. The majority of Hammerson's portfolio is in the United Kingdom, but it also operates in continental Europe, including operations in France, Ireland, Spain, and Germany. It invests mainly in offices and retail premises.

Contents

History

The business was founded by Lewis Hammerson, who began to invest in property in 1942, converting houses into apartments. [2] His company L.W. Hammerson & Co moved into the commercial property sector in 1948 and became a listed company in 1953. [2] It first expanded outside the UK in the 1960s, when it moved into Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In the 1970s it ventured onto the continent and back in the UK it developed the Brent Cross Shopping Centre, which was the first major covered shopping centre in the country. [3] In the 1990s the operations outside Europe were sold and further properties were acquired in Europe. The year 2003 saw the opening of the new Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham, which was one of the largest city centre retail developments ever built in the UK. [4]

In October 2012, Hammerson sold its office property at Gresham Street in London for £200 million to Retirement Fund (Incorporated), the Malaysian state pension fund. [5]

In December 2017, Hammerson announced its intention to take over rival Intu in a £3.4 billion deal; [6] however, later in April 2018, Hammerson announced that it was withdrawing its recommendation (to proceed with the takeover) citing concerns about the health of the UK retail market. [7]

In March 2018, Hammerson rejected a £4.9 billion takeover offer from the French property development firm, Klépierre. [8]

In July 2018, Hammerson announced to sell off £1.1bn of properties by 2019 as it exits the retail park sector and focuses on "flagship retail destinations". [9]

Operations

Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London Brent Cross - geograph.org.uk - 898980.jpg
Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London

The company's portfolio, including its investment in joint ventures and associates, was valued at £3.8 billion as at 31 December 2023. [1] Hammerson have interests in several major retail developments, including: [10]

Hammerson, Henderson Group and Future Fund together form the Birmingham Alliance, who are responsible for the Bullring, [4] Martineau Place and the up-coming Martineau Galleries development. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bull Ring, Birmingham</span> Major shopping centre in central Birmingham

The Bull Ring is a major shopping area in central Birmingham England, and has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first held. Two shopping centres have been built in the area; in the 1960s, and then in 2003; the latter is styled as one word, Bullring. When coupled with Grand Central it forms the United Kingdom's largest city centre based shopping centre, styled as Bullring & Grand Central.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Group</span> Australian shopping centre group

Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; and Westfield Corporation, which continued to own and operate the American and European centre portfolio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FTSE 100 Index</span> Share index of the London Stock Exchange

The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie", is a stock market index of 100 of the most highly capitalised blue chip companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitgift Centre</span> Shopping centre in Croydon, England

The Whitgift Centre is a large shopping centre in the town centre of Croydon, opening in stages between 1968 and 1970. The centre comprises 1,302,444 sq ft (121,001 m2) of retail space, and was the largest covered shopping development in Greater London until the opening of Westfield London at White City in 2008. The Whitgift Centre has a monthly footfall of 2.08 million. The complex includes an office development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Land</span> UK real estate investment trust

The British Land Company Public Limited Company is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index and a founding member of the European Public Real Estate Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intu</span> United Kingdom-based real estate investment trust

Intu Properties plc was a British real estate investment trust (REIT), largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Originally named Transatlantic Insurance Holdings plc and later Liberty International plc, it changed its name in May 2010 to Capital Shopping Centres Group plc after demerging its Capital & Counties Properties business unit to form an independent business. The company adopted the Intu name on 18 February 2013, and this was followed by the rebranding of most of its shopping centres under the Intu title from May 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landsec</span> British real estate investment trust

Land Securities Group plc, trading as Landsec, is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is headquartered in London, England, and traded on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundrum Town Centre</span> Large shopping centre in southern suburban Dublin, Ireland

Dundrum Town Centre is a shopping centre located in Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland. It is one of Ireland's two largest shopping centres with over 131 shops, 47 restaurants, 3 amusement facilities and a cinema, retail floor space of 111,484 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft) and almost 140,000 m2 (1,500,000 sq ft) total floor space, and over 3,000 car parking spaces. It is located just south of the centre of the suburban village of Dundrum, within the wider eponymous area. It has annual footfall in excess of 18 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Central, Birmingham</span> Shopping mall in Birmingham, England

Grand Central is a shopping centre located above New Street railway station in Birmingham, England, that opened in 1971 as Birmingham Shopping Centre. In 1989, it was largely refurbished and reopened on 17 September 1990 as The Pallasades Shopping Centre. The centre underwent a mass redevelopment in 2014, opening on 24 September 2015 as Grand Central. It is currently owned by Hammerson and CPPIB, having been acquired from Birmingham City Council in January 2016 for £335m. When coupled with the Bullring it forms the United Kingdom's largest city centre-based shopping centre, styled Bullring & Grand Central.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Peel Group</span> UK property investment business

The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to 13 million square feet (1.2 km2) of buildings, and over 33,000 acres (13,000 ha) of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports business and MediaCityUK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Segro</span> British real estate company

SEGRO plc is a British property investment and development company. It develops and invests in property located in the UK and Continental Europe focusing on edge of town flexible business space. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Atria Watford Shopping mall in Hertfordshire, England

Atria Watford is a shopping centre in the middle of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It opened in June 1992 as the Harlequin Shopping Centre. The centre was rebranded as intu Watford in 2013 following the renaming of its parent Capital Shopping Centres Group as Intu Properties. It received its current name in March 2021 by the new owners, Global Mutual.

St Martins Property Investments Limited is a property development, investment and asset management company based in the United Kingdom representing the real estate interests of the State of Kuwait with their headquarters in London Bridge City, London. The company is wholly owned by the Kuwait sovereign wealth fund, Future Generations Fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Dublin</span>

Dublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland, and is the country's economic hub. As well as being the location of the national parliament and most of the civil service, Dublin is also the focal point of media in the country. Much of Ireland's transportation network radiates from the city, and Dublin Port is responsible for a large proportion of Ireland's import and export trade.

UK Commercial Property REIT, formerly UK Commercial Property Trust, is a large British investment trust dedicated to investments in UK commercial properties. Established in 2006, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The chairman is Ken McCullagh. It invests in shopping centres, shops, office buildings and industrial estates and warehousing/distribution centres.

Corio N.V. is a former Dutch-based real estate investment company which owned and managed shopping centres. Headquartered in Utrecht, the firm primarily consists of a portfolio of retail properties worth €7.2 billion in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Turkey. The company was formed in 2000 by the merger of the property funds VIB and WBN, initially also investing significantly in office buildings and other commercial property. These activities have since been scaled back in favour of retail real estate. At the end of 2010 around 4% of Corio's holdings were in properties other than shopping centres, down from 47% in 2000. The company is listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the benchmark AEX index since March 2008. In 2015 Corio merged with the French real estate investment company Klépierre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosgrave Property Group</span> Irish construction company

The Cosgrave Property Group is an Irish property development company established by brothers Joseph, Michael, and Peter Cosgrave. It currently has loans from the National Asset Management Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Corporation</span> Australian-based British-American shopping centre company

Westfield Corporation was an Australian commercial real estate company and operator of shopping centres. It was founded with the spin-off of the Westfield Group in 2014, where assets in Australia and New Zealand formed the Scentre Group, and assets in the United Kingdom and United States formed the Westfield Corporation. It was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "WFD".

Tritax Big Box REIT is a Real estate investment trust investing in "Big Box" distribution centres. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hibernia Real Estate Group</span>

Hibernia Real Estate Group Ltd, formerly called Hibernia REIT plc when it was a public real estate investment trust, is a real estate development firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company owns 32 properties in Dublin, and has a portfolio valued at €1.309 billion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Annual Results 2023" (PDF). Hammerson. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Hammerson History". Hammerson.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. "Standard Life Investments Property". Property.standardlifeinvestments.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Building the Bullring Birmingham". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. Stock Market Wire (1 October 2012). "Hammerson sells office property in City". Stock Market Wire.
  6. "Shopping centres sold in £3.4bn deal". 6 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  7. "Bullring owner Hammerson pulls back from Intu takeover". BBC News. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  8. "UK Retail Developer Hammerson Rejects £4.9 Billion Takeover Deal Offer by Klepierre". commercialpeople.com. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. Monaghan, Angela (24 July 2018). "Bullring owner Hammerson to sell off £1.1bn of properties". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  10. "Top 10 Properties". Hammerson. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  11. CBRE to deliver development consultancy advice on Birmingham's £600m Martineau Galleries scheme CBRE, 12 November 2007, Retrieved 24 March 2012