Hammerson PLC exchanged contracts to sell a 50% interest in the Highcross shopping center in Leicester, U.K., for £236 million in a deal that established a new £472 million joint venture with an undisclosed Asian investor.

The retail real estate investment trust will manage the property for the joint venture, and the sale price reflects a net initial yield of 5.5%.

John Lewis & Partners, Debenhams and a Showcase Cinema de Lux anchor the roughly 110,000-square-meter property.

Deal completion is expected later in 2018, conditional upon EU competition clearance and joint venture finance.

According to a filing, the transaction takes Hammerson's total sales for 2018 to more than £530 million, which includes the off-loading of four retail parks earlier in the year, consistent with the company's strategy to exit the retail park sector over the medium term.

M&G Real Estate introduced the joint venture partner to Hammerson.