Mike Ashley could be set to make his biggest retail property purchase ever after it was revealed that Frasers Group PLC (LSE:FRAS), in which he is the majority stakeholder, is interested in buying the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield.
One of the largest shopping malls in Britain, Meadowhall was placed on the market at around £750 million last year by its current owners British Land and Norges Bank.
Now it’s believed Frasers Group is “one of a handful of parties” interested in buying the property, highlighting the retail giant’s confidence in the in-store channel of retail.
Last year, Ashley’s empire also picked up a £58 million shopping centre in Luton, a £30 million site in Dundee and Junction 32, the West Yorkshire outlet shopping centre, for £50 million.
Meadowhall welcomes around 24 million shoppers each year and holds 290 shops in its 1.4 million square foot layout, although there are plans to extend the size of the property within the 2020s.
Shops at the site include JD Sports, Next, and M&S as well as Frasers-owned Sports Direct, Flannels, and Jack Wills.
Yorkshire’s largest shopping centre was sold for £1.2 billion to British Land in 1999 before being valued at £1.53 billion in 2012 when Norges Bank bought a 50% stake in it.
Frasers Group is down a little over 1% on Tuesday at 812p.