Checking out: British Land offloading a dozen Sainsbury’s superstores

Property giant British Land is selling off 12 Sainsbury’s superstores from its joint venture with the supermarket chain under plans to slash its exposure to the embattled retail sector. British Land is selling the stores to Realty Income Corporation for £429 million and said its share of the proceeds will be £193.5m, representing a “modest premium” to the book value recorded in September last year. It comes as part of wider plans to cut retail assets to 30-35 per cent of its portfolio, from around half currently.