Blackburn retail complex sold for £40m 

Capital & Regional has exchanged contracts with the retail arm of the Adhan Group for the sale of the 600,000 sq ft The Mall off Church Street. 

Completion of the £40m sale, which is subject to local authority freeholder consent, is expected to take place around the end of June 2022. 

Adhan’s acquisition of The Mall comes less than a year after the company bought St George’s Shopping Centre in Preston. 

Capital & Regional had owned The Mall since 2004 and invested £66m in expanding it in 2011, according to the company’s website. 

In December 2021, the shopping centre was valued at £38.2m, according to Capital & Regional. 

The sale at a premium to its December 2021 valuation “provides further evidence of the stabilisation of asset values as well as renewed investor confidence in the sector”, according to Lawrence Hutchings, chief executive of Capital & Regional. 

The developer/investor will use the net cash proceeds from the sale to repay a debt secured on the property as part of The Mall loan facility.  

“I would like to thank the Blackburn centre team for their hard work and dedication during their time as part of the Capital & Regional Group.  

“We have been a large part of this vibrant, diverse and important community for over 20 years, and we wish the community, our retailers and the local council continued success as the centre embarks on its next phase under new local ownership.”