Redical seals deal to acquire Merry Hill shopping centre

Merry Hill shopping centre

The owners – a consortium of banks – took over the centre following the collapse of intu in 2020. It is the ninth-largest UK mall by spending potential and is now more than 96% let, following a £125m transformation over the past few years.

A new £15m leisure quarter recently opened at the 92-acre destination, which includes a fully let retail park.

CBRE-owned asset manager Sovereign Centros has led a programme to upgrade and add more than 300,000 sq ft of space, including the repurposing of the former Debenhams department store as a gym and a revamp of the 100,000 sq ft M&S unit.

Footfall at the centre, which was placed on the market last summer, returned to 15 million in 2025 and it achieved a 4.3% year-on-year increase in sales.

Merry Hill will join Victoria Leeds, The Liberty Romford and Clayton Square Liverpool in Redical’s growing retail portfolio.

Mikko Syrjanen, co-founder of Redical, said: “We are delighted to have completed the purchase of Merry Hill, an asset perfectly aligned to our strategy of creating a portfolio of core-plus assets, each of which dominates its catchment, reflects the needs and wants of its consumers and has unrealised potential.”

Petteri Barman, co-founder of Redical, added: “The centre team and the wider property asset management team have done a stellar job returning Merry Hill to its rightful place among the biggest and best-performing super regional centres in the UK.  Now, together with that team and through our tech-enabled ‘transformation through accumulation’ strategy, we intend to elevate the Merry Hill customer experience even further, beginning immediately.”

Miles Dunnett, Merry Hill director, said: “I am delighted to announce the sale to Redical, which is absolutely the right party to continue Merry Hill’s development as the leading super regional centre in the Midlands.

“This outcome would not have been achieved without the commitment of our existing owners, who have supported us throughout Merry Hill’s transformation, and we are very pleased we have been able to achieve this outcome on their behalf.”

Merry Hill directors were advised by Knight Frank on the sale, and by Simmons & Simmons and Pinsent Mason on legal matters. Redical was advised by DLA Piper, RSM and Addleshaw Goddard.