When Hammerson pursued an ill-judged merger with Intu in 2018, shareholders forced it to leave its rival at the altar. Now they are wondering whether Hammerson will join it in the graveyard.
Intu’s collapse on Friday sent Hammerson’s shares down 12.6% to 82p, valuing the owner of Birmingham’s Bullring and London’s Brent Cross shopping centres at £629m. Five years ago, its shares were close to 700p.
There are striking similarities. The management teams both underestimated the corrosive effects of online shopping on bricks-and-mortar retail and loaded their businesses with debt.
The two minds behind Hammerson’s strategic mistakes, chairman David Tyler and chief executive David Atkins, are set to leave. Can their successors secure a future for Hammerson in a post-coronavirus world?
Rob Noel clearly thinks