Moorfield replaced by Chester in Great Northern sale

Chester Properties has reportedly overtaken Moorfield in the race to buy the Great Northern leisure scheme in Manchester from struggling investor Capital & Regional.

A deal with Moorfield for a price of around £100m has fallen through and Chester has stepped in to buy the 500,000 sq ft asset on Deansgate for a discounted £90m.

Chester Properties has the scheme under offer and the price reflects a yield of around 7.25%. Chester is said to be working on the deal with a US fund.

C&R bought out its joint venture partner on Great Northern, AWG Developments, in 2005 for £18m.

The Great Northern scheme contains a cinema, pubs, shops and car parking.

C&R last week secured £286m of cash from investors in its Mall fund, and raised the same amount again from the sale of three centres including the Mall Chester. C&R's share price has fallen by 63% to 213p since the beginning of April.