Landsec has exchanged contracts to buy 100% of Metrocentre in Gateshead for £516 million, adding a shopping centre of 1.86 million sq ft to its retail portfolio.
The listed property group announced the purchase on 1 October 2026, together with a share placing that raised about £500 million towards the cost.
The seller is Tynehawk Holdings (Jersey) Limited. Metrocentre draws more than 16 million visitors a year, records retail sales of around £650 million and is 95% let, according to Landsec.
Its tenants include M&S, Next, Primark, Apple, Lego and Sephora. In June 2026, Retail Gazette reported that Frasers Group had considered a £500 million offer for the centre. The same title says the property agent Knight Frank ran the sale process.
What Landsec has agreed to pay
The price is £516 million in net cash consideration. Landsec puts the in-place net rental income at £41 million a year, a yield of 7.9%, and expects an unlevered internal rate of return in the low double digits.
The main centre holds 282 shops across 1.86 million sq ft, with a further 15 units and 0.2 million sq ft in the adjoining retail park. The average lease term is 4.5 years, shorter than the agreements most brands recruiting UK operators ask a franchisee to sign.
How the share placing was priced
Landsec paid for the deal partly with new equity. On 1 October 2026 it reported a placing of 83.3 million new shares at 600 pence, a 3.0% discount to the middle market price of 618.5 pence at pricing, raising gross proceeds of about £500 million.
The total includes about 1.5 million shares offered to retail investors. The new shares equal roughly 11% of the existing issued share capital. Settlement is due on or before 8am on 5 October 2026, and the rest of the cost is met from existing debt facilities.
Completion is conditional
Landsec says completion is expected at the end of October 2026. It depends on the dissolution of a legacy Intu Properties entity, set for 9 October 2026, and on bondholder consent, with confirmations above 80% already received.
Why Landsec is adding to its retail estate
The purchase is part of a £1 billion programme of retail investment. Landsec says it takes the group to three of the UK’s top 10 shopping centres and eight of the top 30, with major retail destinations producing about 46% of annualised rental income. “Metrocentre offers the scale, relevance and quality of catchment where demand from brands is highest,” says Mark Allan, chief executive of Landsec, as brands focus on fewer and larger stores.
Shopping centre units are a core format for the restaurant and food brands recruiting UK operators as well as for fashion retailers. Retail Gazette reported in August that the portfolio’s like-for-like net rental income rose 5.5% and occupancy reached 97.7% in the year to 31 March 2026.
What comes next
Completion is the next date to watch. Landsec expects like-for-like net rental income growth of 3% to 5% for the year ending 31 March 2027, and describes potential growth in earnings per share, on the EPRA measure, of about 5% a year through to the 2030 financial year. Both are company projections rather than results. Metrocentre is in England, so business rates for its units follow the English system.
