A popular Hampshire shopping centre that was put into receivership in the summer has new owners as part of a £53m deal.

New River Retail, a property investment firm, snapped up the 30 retail unit Locks Heath Shopping Centre in Fareham and promised to breathe new life into the precinct.

The deal is part of an acquisition of five UK shopping centres totalling 518,000 square feet from the CPI Retail Active Management (CReAM) fund.

The other centres are in Leeds, Burgess Hill in West Sussex, Birmingham, and Newcastle. They were put into receivership in July by Barclays bank.

Allan Lockhart, executive property director of NewRiver, said: “We are delighted to have been able to complete the acquisition of this major portfolio of shopping centres including Locks Heath which is exactly consistent with the company’s investment strategy of targeting food anchored and value retail centres with stable income profiles and low occupational costs.

“Locks Heath is a well let and popular neighbourhood shopping centre and provides a good retail offer for the local community. We are confident that over time we can further improve and bring new investment into the scheme.”

Mr Lockhart said the deal represented a 42 per cent discount on the peak £92m value of the shopping centres in December 2006.

He added: “Four out of the five shopping centres, including Locks Heath, offer significant retail extension opportunities for food retailers which have the potential to provide New River with enhanced returns and in addition each asset provides significant opportunity to add value through targeted asset management initiatives.”

HSBC provided £35m of finance to New River to fund the deal.

It will bring New River’s retail acquisitions in the past 12 months to £150m.