Bankers set for $120m payday from shopping centre deals

Shoppers in Hammerson's Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham - PA

Bankers at the heart of the shopping centre deal frenzy of the past fortnight are in line for a $120m fee bonanza.

Advisers working on the £3.4bn tie-up between UK-listed retail companies Hammerson and Intu would share ­between $41m (£31m) and $51m in fees if the deal completes.

Hammerson announced its intention to buy Intu earlier this month.

It is being advised by Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Lazard, while Rothschild, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS are working for Intu.

If the deal goes ahead it will result in Hammerson becoming the largest listed property firm in the UK with control of many of the country’s top shopping centres including Brent Cross, the Trafford Centre and the Bullring in Birmingham.

A shopper carries bags from inside the Westfield London shopping centre Credit: Bloomberg

Meanwhile, a £19bn offer from French retail company Unibail-Rodamco for Australian shopping mall giant Westfield could generate $60m to $70m of fees for the team behind the deal.

This would be shared between Rothschild, Jefferies and UBS advising Westfield, and Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs for Unibail.

The deal between the two companies is understood to have come about as recently as October, meaning the bankers made their money for just two months’ work. The banks declined to comment.