St Martins plans £1bn sell-off

The property arm of the State of Kuwait has kick-started plans to sell nearly £1bn of property across Europe, including five large regional shopping centres in the UK.

St Martins Property Corporation has instructed Savills, a property services firm, to advise it on the sale of the properties which are in countries including the UK, France, Holland and Belgium.

Up for sale in the UK is the Centrale Shopping Centre in Croydon, which is one of five shopping centres being sold. The UK portfolio also includes offices buildings in West London and a prized development site at 5 Cheapside near to St Paul's Cathedral which has planning consent for a new 108,000sq ft office scheme. This is the last development site within the Paternoster Square area around the cathedral. Other properties include industrial estates and retail parks.

St Martins is understood to be carrying out the phased sale of the properties, which require active asset management, to raise funds to reinvest in larger, trophy assets in London and other key European cities.