Institutional landlord Hammerson has said the previously agreed £400m sale of its retail park portfolio is hanging by a thread, as the prospective buyer is looking to pull out of the deal.

In a statement to the City today, Hammerson said the Orion European real estate fund had indicated it “did not intend to complete” the £400m deal the two parties agreed on February 21 for seven of the landlord’s UK retail parks.

The landlord said it “remains ready and able to comply with its completion obligations” with regards to the agreed deal and said it is in discussion with Orion.

The deal was due to be completed today and if Orion does not proceed, Hammerson said it would “serve a notice to complete” no later than May 6.

If that second deadline should pass, Hammerson said it would move to cancel the deal and pocket the £21m deposit put down by Orion for the parks.

The news is another blow to the embattled landlord, which has been hit badly by the coronavirus lockdown.

At the most recent rent day for the second quarter on March 25, Hammerson received just 37% of all payments due. It said it was dealing with a “variety of requests for rent deferrals, monthly payments and waivers” from occupants.

The landlord had seen rental income falling before the pandemic struck in March, with profits falling 10.9% to £214m during the12 months to December 31, 2019.