Premier bags retail sites

THE COLOURFUL property entrepreneur Desmond Bloom has put together his biggest deals since moving into Vizcaya, the zinc mining shell, at the end of 1992 and changing its name to Premier Land, writes Tom Stevenson.

The acquisitions of the Waterglade shopping centre in Doncaster from British Land and a set of retail shops from Landrake Investments take the value of Premier's portfolio to pounds 55m. The company's rents will now cover its interest costs and overheads.

The deals, costing pounds 17m, will be part-funded by a placing of 43 million shares at 7p to raise pounds 3m. Premier's shares closed up 3 4 p at 9p.

Mr Bloom, a former boxer and rock guitarist, re-emerged at Vizcaya after a controversial spell at Dwyer, another shell company that at one stage was the best-performing share on the stock market. He resigned from Dwyer after the company decided it could no longer justify his pounds 250,000 salary.