The sale of 14 development sites to pan-European property investor Meyer Bergman has raised £250m for troubled supermarket giant Tesco.

Suitable for mixed or residential development, the sites and are spread across London, the south east and Bath.

Tesco has had a difficult year so far with H1 operating profit falling by 55% to £354m and net debt (excluding Tesco Bank) growing to £8.6bn as of August 29. The sale of the sites appears to fit with previous cost-cutting and restructuring activities to return the retailer to healthy figures.

Dave Lewis, Tesco chief executive, said: “Since announcing our decision to build fewer stores, we have been working with Meyer Bergman to bring forward investment on our Spenhill [development arm] sites.”

Eleven of the sales have been completed, while the remaining three will be completed in due course.

Markus Meijer, chief executive of Meyer Bergman, said: “We see this investment as an opportunity to give new impetus to the Spenhill projects, to make Tesco’s place-making ambitions for the sites happen and to make an enduring contribution to local communities.”



Topics