Hammerson offloads nine UK retail parks for £455m

Property group exits sector in attempt to cut £3bn debt and guard against high-street crisisHammerson has offloaded its out-of-town retail parks for £455m as it looks to reduce its £3bn debt pile and shield itself from the high-street crisis.The property group, which owns the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, is selling seven sites, including Elliott’s Field in Rugby and the Cyfarthfa park in Merthyr Tydfil, to the London-based private equity firm Orion for £4