Bristol could become a key battleground in the multi-billion pound property takeover announced this week which, if approved, will put the region’s two largest shopping centres under the same ownership for the first time.
Hammerson, the retail property giant that co-owns Cabot Circus in the city centre, took the industry by surprise with its recommended £3.4bn offer for smaller rival Intu, which is part owner of The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, pictured below. The two are the largest shopping centre operators in the UK. 
Industry watchers believe competition watchdogs will allow the takeover to go ahead – but not without forcing the enlarged group to sell off centres in areas where it would have a dominant position in the retail property market.
That could spark a bidding war for one of the two Bristol centres. The situation in the West of England is further complicated by the fact that the owners of both schemes have ambitious refurbishment and expansion schemes in the planning system.
The Hammerson-Intu deal is not expected to go ahead for at least a year due to the need to gain approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Specialist merger and acquisition broker Olivetree Financial said the CMA would want to see whether it raised an issue for retailers.
“Critical to the analysis will be whether the CMA views the provision of shopping centres as a national or regional market,” it said. 
If disposals were required by the CMA the focus would be on Bristol, along with Birmingham and Glasgow, it said, where the enlarged group would also own competing centres.
The 730,000 sq ft Mall at Cribbs Causeway is already the region’s largest retail destination and is home to around 135 retailers and restaurants. Since opening in 1998 it has attracted around 200m visitors.
Intu, which co-owns it with M&G Real Estate and JT Baylis, also operates major out-of-town centres across the UK including Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, as well as co-owning the city-centre St David’s in Cardiff.
Its £300m plans for Cribbs Causeway would increase it in size by two thirds with new shops, bars, restaurants and housing, an hotel, a new bus station, multi-storey car park and an events space.
The scheme was called in by the Secretary of State because of its regional importance. It was opposed by Hammerson, which said it would hit trade at Cabot Circus and lead to job losses. It was also contested by neighbouring local authorities including Bristol City Council and Bath & North East Somerset – although South Gloucestershire Council approved it.
The Secretary of State has yet to make a decision following a public inquiry in September.
Hammerson co-owns Cabot Circus, pictured above, through the Bristol Alliance, a 50:50 joint venture with AXA Real Estate Investors. Its national portfolio includes the Bullring in Birmingham, Bicester Village, Victoria Gate in Leeds and Brent Cross in London.
Cabot Circus, which celebrates its 10th birthday next year, is anchored by House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols and Showcase de Lux cinema. It also includes the historic Quakers Friars area and the original Broadmead retail centre.
It too has plans for an upgrade – to “reinvigorate” a large area around Penn Street and The Horsefair. This part of Broadmead dates back to the 1950s, when retail units were used in a very different way – typically with ground-floor shops and stock rooms and staff facilities on the upper floors.
The ‘new Broadmead’ would offer a mix of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, leisure and open spaces, the Bristol Alliance said, creating a modern shopping district in the heart of the city. The new units would have more flexible space suitable to address the massive shift towards leisure, eating and drinking uses as well as retail that characterises modern shopping centre.
In total, the plans – which are due to go before Bristol City Council planners next year – include nearly 102,500 sq m of new retail and leisure space, up to 150 apartments and new landscaping and access roads.
Hammerson also owns the 31,455 sq m Imperial Retail Park in South Bristol, which is anchored by B&Q and Tesco Home Plus.
