Capital & Regional: Praxis out of the running to buy shopping centre giant

Shares in Capital & Regional have fallen by 14 per cent after a prospective bidder for the UK shopping centre owner said it was bowing out of the process.

Praxis, a London-based property investor, said it doesn’t intend to make an offer for the listed company – which owns shopping malls in Edinburgh, Hemel Hempstead and Walthamstow.

Following the announcement shares in the shopping centre giant fell to 59.4p in early trading.

Capital & Regional will now have to wait and see whether Praxis’s rival bidder, fellow real estate investor Newriver REIT, will make a formal offer before the 12 September deadline.

The shopping centre owner announced in May it was looking for a buyer after reporting that the number of people shopping across its properties had risen 1.5 per cent in 2023 to 44.5m visits, reaching close to 87 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

The company has also spoke to Vukile Property Fund on a potential proposal, though no more details have been given.

Capital & Regional owns several UK shopping centres, including in Edinburgh, Hemel Hempstead, Ilford, Maidstone, Walthamstow, Wood Green.

In its most recent full year results for 2023, valuations were up by 2.6 per cent, while net rental income increased by five per cent, both on a like-for-like basis.

Meanwhile net debt increased slightly in relation to the overall property value.

The group also said it was still dealing with a lingering issue from the pandemic—fewer people are using car parks.

To address this, the company said it was working on developing alternative ways to generate income from car park spaces.