Henry Boot has sold the Ayr Central Shopping Centre to raise 拢33.8m and clear its debts.

The sale of Ayr Central Shopping Centre will raise a total of 拢33.8m for the firm and the proceeds will wipe out its debt, while the sale of optioned land with planning permission for 700 homes in Buckingham has been completed for an undisclosed sum.

Located in the heart of Ayr town centre, the 180,000 sq ft. shopping centre was developed in 2006 by HBD and is anchored by Debenhams and Primark, with other tenants including H&M, JD Sports, HMV, Clarks and River Island.

Barratt Developments and Bovis Homes have acquired the land in Buckingham, completing a sale process which started mid way through 2010.

Commenting on the sales, Henry Boot managing director, Jamie Boot said: 鈥淭he completion of these two transactions will result in the Group moving to a net cash position. These deals were included in management鈥檚 forecasts for 2011 and confirm that the market for high quality retail assets and green field development sites in good housing locations is reasonably strong.

鈥淐ompleting these transactions so early in the period is very pleasing and gives us a strong start to the year.鈥�

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