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Press Releases

Moorfield, Plus Shops and KLM to launch new retail venture

Trio unveil ‘The Absolute Partnership’, uniting expertise and up to £350m funding to provide solutions for retail property owners battling today’s difficult market conditions 

Moorfield Group (Moorfield) today announced the creation of a new partnership that could see it invest up to £350m in retail assets over the coming months. 

Moorfield will partner with shopping centre asset management business, Plus Shops, and retail property agency, Kitchen La Frenais Morgan (KLM), to provide comprehensive solutions to retail property owners that are battling today’s distressed market conditions.

The venture, known as The Absolute Partnership, is designed to assist a wide range of organisations, from banks through to opportunity funds, and will provide structured finance solutions, specialist asset management support and occupational expertise.

Opportunity driven, the partnership will particularly seek shopping centre investment prospects over £50m, and will be financed through the Moorfield Real Estate Fund II (MREF II), which raised approximately £400m of private equity on closing at the end of 2007.

Like its predecessor, Moorfield Real Estate Fund (MREF), it is backed principally by blue-chip US endowment and foundation funds and European pension funds, the majority of which are repeat investors.  The first fund is now fully committed, having invested circa £1bn in a diverse range of UK assets, including The Capitol Shopping Centre (Cardiff), The Ridings Shopping Centre (Wakefield) and The Cornmill Shopping Centre (Darlington). These Centres were purchased some three years ago and have subsequently been successfully managed by Moorfield in conjunction with Plus Shops and KLM. This latest venture between the trio signals the further growth of this successful relationship.

Speaking about the new venture, Marc Gilbard, Chief executive of Moorfield Group commented: “We understand that in difficult times such as these, property owners may have unexpectedly found themselves in a position where either financial or asset management support is needed.  We have developed the partnership in direct response, and believe that the combined expertise of Moorfield, Plus Shops and KLM will enable us to provide assistance to any organisation, whether a lender or borrower, as we face one of the toughest economic climates in recent memory.”

Stephen Jaffe, Managing Director at Plus Shops, added: “It’s very tough for retailers and their Landlords at the moment but we have found our focused management style, which concentrates on retail assets, is particularly suited to taking on difficult situations. We are still completing advantageous deals and positioning Landlords to recover from the shock of the last three months.”

In closing, Rupert Guy, Partner at Kitchen Le Frenais Morgan, said: “The team has been working together for some three years at shopping centres throughout the UK, and it is clear that the synergy created will perform well in The Absolute Partnership.”

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