NewRiver secures agreement to lease with Morrisons

RNS Number : 1620F

NewRiver Retail Limited

21 May 2013

 



NewRiver Retail Limited

("NewRiver" or "the Company")

NewRiver secures agreement to lease with Morrisons at Locks Heath, Fareham

NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM and CISX: NRR), the UK REIT specialising in value-creating retail property investment and active asset management, announces it has signed a significant pre-lease agreement with supermarket group Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC ("Morrisons") at its Locks Heath Shopping Centre in Fareham, Hampshire.

This important agreement will deliver, subject to conditions, a major new food retailer to the Locks Heath Shopping Centre. The agreement is conditional upon certain land acquisitions and securing planning consent for a major extension to the Shopping Centre.

Morrisons has agreed, subject to the conditions being met, to lease under a 25-year term a 71,000 sq ft food store.

NewRiver's plans for Locks Heath Shopping Centre include a major enhancement and extension to the existing centre and the Morrisons agreement is a significant boost for the viability of the scheme.

NewRiver believes the Morrisons store would be a significant enhancement for the local area with the potential to transform the shopping experience and drive footfall to other retailers in the Centre.

Allan Lockhart, Property Director at NewRiver said: "NewRiver is delighted to have signed this important agreement with a Morrisons which will anchor the enlarged Locks Heath Shopping Centre. We are now planning to begin the process of presenting our masterplan for the Centre to the local authority. The agreement is a significant endorsement by a leading UK food retailer and marks a positive step forward in the progression of our enhancement plans for the Shopping Centre."

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For further information

NewRiver Retail Limited  David Lockhart, Chief Executive Mark Davies, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
Pelham Bell Pottinger David Rydell/Guy Scarborough	Tel: [phone]
Cenkos Securities Ian Soanes/Max Hartley	Tel: [phone]
Investec Bank plc Garry Levin/David Anderson	Tel: [phone]

About NewRiver

NewRiver Retail Limited is a REIT status specialist real estate investor and asset manager focusing solely on the UK retailing sector with a particular focus on food and value retailing. The management team, with over 100 years combined experience in the UK commercial property market, actively engages with retailers, stakeholders and consumers. With assets under management of £400 million comprising 23 UK wide shopping centres, 16 high street retail units and two supermarkets, the portfolio has 732 occupiers, a total of 2.8 million square feet, total annual footfall of over 65 million and an occupancy rate on its retail estate of 94%. The Company's activities include active and entrepreneurial asset management and risk controlled development, utilising both its own balance sheet and co-investment joint venture structures. It is NewRiver's intention to become one of the leading sector-focused value-creating property investment businesses operating in the UK retail sector. The Company was founded in 2009 and its shares were admitted to London's AIM and Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) in September of the same year. For more information on NewRiver, please visit www.nrr.co.uk

 

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