Transformation on cards as £140m deal to acquire vast Glasgow shopping centre completes

A £140 million deal to acquire one of Scotland’s biggest shopping centres has been completed, with its new owners promising a transformation of the mall.

The Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow has been bought by property investment and development group Eurofund in a joint venture with private equity property firm Henderson Park.

News of the deal emerged towards the end of last year but the acquisition has now been completed.

The joint venture has bought the flagship centre from Hammerson and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Eurofund Group is the operating partner in the venture and has also co-invested alongside Henderson Park.

Silverburn currently consists of 125 retail and leisure units including big names such as Next, Marks & Spencer and TK Maxx. A leisure extension, which was completed in 2015, added a 14-screen Cineworld and 11 restaurant units.

The new owners noted that Silverburn, which opened in 2007, benefited from “strong transport links”, with a major bus terminal located on site, and has historically generated “consistently high footfall” of about 15 million shoppers per annum.

Silverburn currently consists of 125 retail and leisure units including big names such as Next, Marks & Spencer and TK Maxx. A leisure extension, which was completed in 2015, added a 14-screen Cineworld and 11 restaurant units including Pizza Express, Five Guys and TGI Fridays.

The top 20 UK shopping centre sits on a 67-acre freehold site, which includes 4,500 car parking spaces and the largest Tesco in Scotland, under a long leasehold interest.

Eurofund said the centre benefited from a strong catchment area, with Glasgow consistently ranked as the number two retail destination in the UK, which presents “significant opportunity for value uplift through letting activity”.

Ian Sandford, president, said: “We are pleased to have had the opportunity to co-invest in Silverburn along with our JV partners at Henderson Park.

“Silverburn represents a fantastic opportunity to take a good centre and transform it into the leading asset in its catchment. Eurofund’s vision is to utilise our team’s strong asset management and operational expertise to unlock latent value and reposition Silverburn as the leading retail, leisure and food and beverage destination in Scotland.”

Chief executive Alberto Esguevillas added: “Scotland represents a particularly strong retail opportunity in the UK, with Glasgow recently being named one of the two most resilient retail destinations in the country.

“This is demonstrated in the strong interest we are seeing from retailers and brands wanting to expand or establish a presence in Silverburn.”

The joint venture was advised on the transaction by BCLP, Brodies, Alvarez & Marsal and Time Retail Partners.

Eurofund Group was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Spain. In addition to offices in Spain, Portugal and Italy, the firm launched a UK arm in 2021.

Figures released last month suggested that the number of people going into shops in Scotland had increased for the first time since before the pandemic hit two years ago.

According to the figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), footfall decreased by 16.2 per cent in January, a 6.6 percentage point improvement on the month before.

A separate report this week revealed that Scottish retail sales, measured by value, still lag pre-pandemic levels despite a modest rebound in the high street’s fortunes last month.

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