2013: CSC invested £25 million to change its name and rebrand as Intu. It also rename 12 of its shopping centres to incorporate the consumer-facing brand. An orange and black brand identity was introduced as well as the bird logo.
2013 (cont’d): Intu launched the UK’s first online shopping centre and in-sourced all shopping centre staff, previously employed by facilities management company Bilfinger Europa. Intu also formed of a joint venture with Bilfinger Europa to create an in-house centre management company, Intu Retail Services. This saw it introduce free WiFi into its centres and encourage more shoppers to its centres.
2013 (cont’d): Intu purchased 50 per cent of Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes – now Intu Milton Keynes – from Legal & General for £250.5 million. Over in Spain, Intu acquired Parque Principado shopping centre in Asturias for €162 million as part of a joint partnership with asset management company Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
2014: Intu purchased Merry Hill Centre (now Intu Merry Hill) and Westfield Derby (now Intu Derby) in a £867.8 million deal.
2015: Intu Puerto Venecia was listed on the Spanish stock exchange. Intu also released an app to send offers to customers based on their location in a mall, as well as enable users to see themselves on a digital map of the building, plan their routes, and observe which retailers are currently offering deals.
2016: Intu acquired the remaining 50 per cent of Merry Hill Estate from Legal & General for £410 million. Intu also acquired the Xanadú Shopping Centre in Madrid, Spain for €530 million. Meanwhile, Intu Asturias was listed on the Spanish stock exchange.
2016 (cont’d): Intu exchanged contracts to sell its 63.5 per cent stake in Intu Bromley to Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation for £177.9 million.
2017: Intu chairman Patrick Burgess stepped down after the company posted strong full year results. He was replaced by non-executive director John Strachan who had been with Intu since 2015. Intu also agreed to a takeover proposal by shopping centre rival Hammerson for £3.4 billion. This needed shareholder approval first.
Intu Liberty International Sir Donald GordonIn 2017, Intu agreed to a takeover by Hammerson for £3.4bn. It eventually failed.
2018: Hammerson was approached by French property giant Klépierre with a £4.9 billion takeover, prompting it to scrap the Intu takeover proposal. Meanwhile, Peel Group, Olayan Group, and Brookfield Property launched a £2.8 billion takeover bid for Intu but they later withdrew the offer.
2018 (cont’d): Intu announced plans for a £75 million transformation of its Trafford shopping centre, expanding and redesigning its Barton Square area. Intu said the project would be completed by 2020. Intu chief executive David Fischel also announced he would step down in 2019. He had been at the helm of Intu since 2001 and with the company since 1985.
2019: Intu appointed Matthew Roberts as its new chief executive to replace Fischel who left office in April. Intu also appointed Robert Allen as its chief financial officer, replacing Barbara Gibbes, who had been acting as interim chief financial officer.
2019 (cont’d): Intu was in talks to sell three Spanish shopping centres: Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza, Intu Asturias in Oviedo, and Intu Xanadu in Madrid. It sold its share in the Zaragoza asset for €237.7 million at the end of the year, delivering net proceeds of around €115 million.
June 2019: During Arcadia’s creditor meeting in June for its CVA proposals, where it was seeking the support of 75 per cent of creditors to avoid administration, its second-biggest landlord Intu opposed its rescue plan. Intu owned 35 Arcadia shop units across the UK at the time, with Topshop accounting for 70 per cent of units.
Intu Liberty International Sir Donald GordonIntu opposed Arcadia’s CVA proposals in 2019.
June 2019 (cont’d): That same month when Arcadia’s CVAs were approved, Intu was also set to be the biggest victim of Monsoon Accessorize’s CVA. Monsoon had 19 stores in Intu’s centres at the time, of which four were due to face rent cuts of over 50 per cent, while six others would have rents slashed by over a third.
July 2019: Intu sought to reduce head office costs as a result of a decline in rental income amid a wave of CVAs. Meanwhile, results revealed that rental income declined from £460 million in 2017 to £450.5 million in 2018, while occupancy levels fell from 97 per cent to 96 per cent.
August 2019: Intu unveiled the £72 million extension at its Lakeside centre in Essex. Intu said the 225,000sq ft expansion is expected to increase Intu Lakeside’s 20 million per year footfall by more than two million.
September 2019: Intu joined property giants Hammerson, British Land and Grosvenor in pledging to deliver net zero carbon real estate portfolios by 2050 as part of the Climate Change Commitment, which was signed by a total of 23 retail and commercial property firms.
November 2019: Intu sold Sprucefield Retail Park to NewRiver for £40 million. Intu also drafted in PwC to help advise on the restructuring of its balance sheet.
January 2020: Intu it sold its Oviedo asset, raising around €85 million. Intu also confirmed plans to ask investors for £1 billion to raise new equity as it sought to fix its balance sheet.