Scotch Corner Designer Village Limited, which is developing a major outlet destination in North Yorkshire, has announced its intention to float in London, although it won’t be on the London Stock exchange.
It said on Thursday that the property company “may consider an initial public offering (IPO) on the newly launched Aquis Real Asset Market (Aram) of the Aquis Stock Exchange”. AQSE as it’s known is also based in London.
In the announcement of the possible plan, Scotch Corner said that Simon Waterfield, the sponsor behind the development, “has a 30-year track record in delivering the successful renewal and redevelopment of key sites around the UK, including Worcester Trade Park, Cotswold Business Park and Newton Business Park in Nottingham”.
AQSE is specifically focused on growth companies and Aram is its new real asset segment. It creates a “new liquid market dedicated to the real estate and infrastructure sector” with former MD of Dow Jones Commercial EMEA and former rugby world cup winner Michael Lynagh responsible for the sourcing of assets to be listed on the Aram market.
Scotch Corner recently announced that it has signed up a raft of brands for its first phase, including Castore, Jack & Jones, Brook Taverner, White Stuff, Haribo, Lindt, Superdry, Radley London, and a huge M&S. They join brands that had already signed including Boss, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Levis, Skechers, Clarks, Moss and Dune London, among others.
The first phase of the development involves the creation of the designer outlet village comprising around 180,000 sq ft of retail stores, cafés and restaurants.
The planned opening of Scotch Corner Designer Village is in spring 2027, at which time it’s intended that Multi-Realm, one of the UK’s leading outlet operators, will be appointed operator and asset manager “to drive footfall, sales and rental income as this destination outlet matures”.
Multi-Realm currently runs London Designer Outlet in Wembley Park, Lakeside Village in Doncaster, Cotswolds Designer Outlet, Trentham Shopping Village, Resorts World in Birmingham, and Ringsted Outlet in Denmark.
Simon Waterfield said of his plans: “We believe that this potential transaction is an exceptional opportunity to develop a first class, largely pre-let, and therefore de-risked, development in the highest growth retail sub-sector. Scotch Corner is perfectly located on the ‘crossroads of the North’ where it is passed by roughly 29 million vehicles each year and enjoys a catchment of some 4.5 million consumers living within an hour’s drive, and the leasing success we’ve had to date proves the desirability of the location.
“We are considering being the first company to seek an IPO on the newly launched Aquis Real Asset Market, which we believe can play an important role for developers such as us to access capital, while allowing all investors the possibility of achieving private equity style returns, usually reserved for professional investors and developers.”
