A U.S. hedge fund has bought a trio of shopping centres once valued at more than £100M for £33M in a deal with lenders.

Magnetar, working with asset manager Northdale, acquired the Kingsgate Shopping Centre in Dunfermline, the Vancouver Centre in King’s Lynn, and The Rushes in Loughborough.

UK bank Leumi provided an £18M loan to finance the purchase.

There has been renewed optimism around the retail investment market in recent months, but the deal reiterates just how far values for smaller centres have fallen in the past decade.

In 2018, the three shopping centres were valued at £105M and refinanced with £86M of debt: a £70M senior loan from Goldman Sachs, which was then securitised, and a £16M mezzanine loan from DRC Capital.

The properties were owned by private equity firm Oaktree Capital, which acquired them when it purchased a loan portfolio from Lloyds Banking Group in 2012.

The three centres went into administration and receivership in 2020. The special servicer to the loan has been working on a strategy to maximise value ever since.

All three centres total almost 900K SF. According to a report from loan servicer Mount Street, the Kingsgate Centre is 38% vacant and the Vancouver Centre and Rushes are both 7% vacant.

Magnetar has assets under management of $18B and invests in fixed-income, credit and energy assets as well as real estate.

In November 2022, Magnetar and Northdale bought the One Stop centre in Birmingham and Corby Town Centre in the Midlands for £76M. Leumi provided a £38M loan to fund that purchase.

“This acquisition is a further milestone in our strategy of investing in dominant, town-centre retail destinations that cater to the everyday needs of their local communities,” Magnetar Portfolio Manager Aidan McKeown said in a statement.

“This deal highlights our confidence in the resilience and long-term value of essential, convenience-led retail assets across the UK,” Leumi Portfolio Director Anya Stanislawczyk added.