The shopping mall owner Intu has agreed to merge with Hammerson to create Britain’s largest property company in a deal that will bring Brent Cross in London, the Bullring in Birmingham and the Trafford Centre in Manchester into one group. The combined group will retain the Hammerson name and control a £21 billion pan-European portfolio of retail and leisure property. The “Intu” brand will continue to be used within existing shopping centres. The all-share deal has the backing of more than 50 per cent of Intu shareholders, including John Whittaker, the billionaire owner of Peel Holdings. The proposed merger comes as shopping centres try to rapidly adapt to a number of headwinds, including the rise of online shopping, weak retail sales, households being hit by…

Source: The Times December 06, 2017 09:00 UTC