Finance
Smart Money Gets Saddled With Forlorn British Malls
The private equity investment model looks broken when it comes to the U.K. retail industry.
Shoppers pass along the pedestrianized Vancouver Quarter open-air mall in King’s Lynn on Aug. 29, 2017.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the English town of King’s Lynn, the carcass of a shuttered department store lies next to betting shops, discount retailers and a cash-for-gold kiosk.
It’s a typical sight across a country where online shopping has taken root more than just about anywhere else. But the boarded-up facades also betray something else: how some of the biggest and best-paid investors have been saddled with unloved property that’s now taking another hit.