Hammerson Gains on Report It’s in Talks to Sell London Offices

Hammerson Plc (HMSO) rose by the most in nine days in London trading after Property Week reported that the property company is in talks to sell 13 offices and development sites in the U.K. capital to Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (BPO)

Hammerson, the U.K.’s third-largest real-estate company by market value, gained as much as 2.7 percent. The London-based company may sell the commercial properties for more than 500 million pounds ($777 million), Property Week said, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.

Hammerson Chief Executive Officer David Atkins said in February he planned to sell the London office portfolio and focus on shopping centers. Hammerson declined to comment on the report in an e-mailed statement and no one was immediately available to comment at New York-based Brookfield Office Properties, the owner of the city’s World Financial Center.

The U.K. company was up 6.7 pence, or 1.6 percent, at 418.6 pence at 11:35 a.m. in London, valuing the company at almost 3 billion pounds. The shares have declined 12 percent in the past 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Packard in London at packard@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net.