Mike Ashley acquires Intu property despite row with retail landlord over House of Fraser stores

Mike Ashley has acquired a new property from Intu despite a public bust up with the retail landlord in which he threatened to withdraw 17 of his stores from their shopping centres. 

The billionaire has bought a long leasehold on the former BHS site in Derby from Intu, according to the Press Association.

It comes just two weeks after negotiations broke down between Ashley and the landlord regarding four House of Fraser stores, which now look set to close in the new year.

“We had multiple meetings with Intu, but we were no further forward after 14 weeks," said Ashley, the billionaire owner of Sports Direct, at the time.

Intu refused to accept Ashley's desired rent reductions on several of House of Fraser stores and those situated in Edinburgh, Hull and Swindon now face the axe, while the future of a store in Bath is also uncertain.

The sale of the former BHS property to Ashley was one of three that Intu parted with, it emerged today.

Bierley Hill in the west Midlands and York House in Nottingham were the other two sites, with the three sold for a combined value of £25.25m.

It comes just a day after a takeover bid from a consortium led by billionaire John Whittaker had been abandoned, causing Intu's share price to nosedive.

The consortium ditched plans to pay £2.9bn for the shopping centre empire after repeatedly pushing back the deadline for a deal.

Intu told investors: “Given the uncertainty around current macroeconomic conditions and the potential near-term volatility across markets, the consortium is not able to proceed with an offer within a timeframe which is manageable within the confines of the code timetable."

Intu’s share price fell by over 36 per cent in early trading yesterday, to 122.4p, and is yet to recover.