Property investment manager Catalyst Capital is close to signing a deal to snap up J Sainsbury Developments from under the noses of Miller Developments and Kier Developments.
The deal could raise£180 million for Sainsbury's, which will now focus more on exploiting its core supermarket portfolio through Sainsbury's Property Company.
Sainsbury's decided to pull out of the development business earlier this year and put the 21-site portfolio on the market. Miller, Kier and Parkridge Development reached the final stage of bidding before Parkridge pulled out. But the Sainsbury's board is now believed to have backed a late offer from Catalyst, with funding from HBOS.
The portfolio could potentially provide 2.3 million sq ft (213,670 sq m) of retail and office development over a six-year timescale. At the moment, it produces£4 million a year in rent. Three-quarters of the portfolio is retail, and it includes nine sites with open A1 planning consents.
The assets include Lemon Quay at Truro in Cornwall, a minority interest in the Brewery at Romford and the Cuckoo Bridge Retail Park at Dumfries in Scotland. Under construction at the moment is a 67,600 sq ft (6,280 sq m) six-unit scheme at Ty Glas Avenue in Llanishen, Cardiff. Marks & Spencer is to anchor it with a 15,000 sq ft (1,395 sq m) food store.
Catalyst, which invests across Europe - mainly on behalf of US clients - has recently been targeting UK retail property. In partnership with Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital, it bought six shopping centres from REIT Asset Management for£315 million, and, in its own right, bought a£96 million portfolio from Dunedin Property.
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