Telford's Forge Retail Park and Birmingham Bullring could be sold in £350 million deal

It comes after reports that Hammerson, which also owns the Bullring in Birmingham, was set to sell its seven sites for around £350 million to Canadian private equity firm Brookfield.

Hammerson told investors on Monday morning that it is in “discussions” with Brookfield over the potential sale but there is “no certainty that a transaction will take place”.

“The company will provide a further update in due course, if appropriate,” it added in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

It comes after the retail property specialist, which also operates Bicester Village, wrote down the value of its shopping centres and stores by nearly £2 billion as Covid-19 saw rental income suffer the biggest fall in its history.

Last month, bosses at Hammerson said its properties were worth £6.34 billion at the end of 2020 compared with £8.33 billion a year earlier.

On Monday, the firm said it is continuing to dispose some of its assets in an effort to “further strengthen the balance sheet”.

It revealed it has secured gross proceeds of around £73 million so far in 2021 to date.

Hammerson bought Forge Retail Park in 2012 and nearly sold the site last year as part of a £400m deal which eventually collapsed.

The sale talks come despite Hammerson’s retail parks trading robustly compared to some other areas of its estate during the crisis, as they benefited from large supermarket stores and wide open spaces.

In the first quarter, the group collected 64% of its rent due at retail parks compared with 36% at UK shopping centres.

Hammerson’s retail park portfolio also consists of parks in Falkirk, Didcot, Middlesbrough, St Helens, Merthyr Tydfil and Rugby.