HUMILIATED

Hammerson boss sees his dream of a £21billion takeover struck over drinks with a pal scuppered by his OWN shareholders

tHe boss of shopping centre owner Hammerson was dealt a humiliating blow yesterday as his dream of creating a £21bn retail empire was shattered. the company, whose estate includes the Bullring in Birmingham and Bicester Village in oxfordshire, abandoned plans to merge with rival Intu following a backlash from investors.

In a dramatic uturn, Hammerson said that the proposed £3.4bn takeover of Intu was now ‘no longer in the best interests of shareholders’ – after its leaders had spent weeks trying to persuade them otherwise.

the revolt by his own investors was branded ‘humiliating’ for Hammerson chief david Atkins ( pictured) following his earlier enthusiasm for a deal that would have created an empire of around 80 shopping centres and retail parks worth £21bn.

david tyler, Hammerson’s chairman, said: ‘ultimately we have to listen to the shareholders.’

And the failure triggered an angry response from Intu chief executive david Fischel, who said the excuses offered by Hammerson were ‘unsatisfactory’ and added: ‘ I’m cross about the wasted time and energy.’

Atkins, 52, hatched the takeover plan over drinks with longtime friend Intu chairman john strachan, 66, last summer before announcing his intentions to great fanfare in december.

‘We quickly came to the conclusion that we would be better together to take the business forward,’ Atkins said at the time, adding that the deal marked ‘an exciting milestone in the history of Hammerson’.

the enlarged company would have brought together key Hammerson assets with Intu’s centres including the Metro Centre in gateshead, Lakeside in thurrock, and the trafford Centre in greater Manchester.

But right from the beginning investors were far from convinced and Hammerson shares plunged more than 6pc on the day the deal was announced.

the stock continued to fall, sinking as low as 435p last month, before French rival Klepierre launched an audacious £5bn bid for Hammerson that valued the company at 635p a share. the approach from the French was rebuffed by Hammerson chairman david tyler, piling further pressure on the company to convince shareholders of the merits of its tieup with Intu.

With investor unrest mounting, Apg, one of Hammerson’s biggest shareholders, last week said it would vote against the deal with Intu. Hammerson finally abandoned its plans yesterday, telling the rest of its shareholders to vote down the deal.

It noted that a number of high street chains had collapsed since the deal was announced, as well as a decline in confidence in the retail industry among investors.

‘It is also apparent from extensive engagement with shareholders that there is a wide range of views on the merits of the Intu acquisition,’ it added.

Hammerson shares rose 4.2pc, or 20.6p, to 514.2p as it outlined plans to boost value by selling assets, returning cash to investors and concentrating on highend outlets.

But Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘this is an embarrassing and humiliating uturn for Hammerson. the demise of the takeover has prompted a jump in the Hammerson share price, which is a pretty quantifiable judgement on the merits of the deal.’

russ Mould, of broker Aj Bell, said: ‘the move to abandon the Intu deal is undeniably a big reverse for Atkins, given how actively he championed it.

‘However, you can at least say that he appears to have listened to his shareholders.’