X-Leisure, the £500m leisure property fund launched earlier this year from the former MWB Leisure Funds, has acquired Burford’s 25 per cent stake in the 02 Centre on Finchley Road, London, for around £25m, making X-Leisure the sole owner and operator.

The move is part of the fund’s strategy of developing large leisure destinations where its asset management skills will enhance the property’s value, to meet its mandate of increasing the fund’s value from £500m to £1bn.

The £100m 02 Centre leisure and retail destination, which was developed by Burford and opened in 1999, includes an eight-screen Vue multiplex cinema and attracts more than 6.7m people per year.

X-Leisure now plans to add more floor space to accommodate further tenants and to reposition the property as a family entertainment and shopping destination by introducing additional activities and attractions to attract more visitors and increase dwell time.

PY Gerbeau, CEO of X-Leisure, said: “The 02 Centre is a great asset to the X-Leisure Fund. I am delighted that now we are 100 per cent owners and managers of this leading UK leisure and retail destination, we will be able to apply our skills to this asset to drive performance for our investors.

“I am very excited about 02 Centre’s future as we already have immediate plans that can now be implemented for the benefit of consumers, tenants and investors.”

X-Leisure, the specialist leisure division of Capital & Regional, owns and manages 18 entertainment and leisure destinations across the UK as well as owning and operating the Xscape snow sports brand and The Great Northern Warehouse in Manchester.

As part of X-Leisure’s plans to focus on its larger destinations it intends to dispose of those sites acquired as part of the MWB Fund which do not fit its strategy.

It has just completed the sale of the first site marked for disposal, The Stack Leisure Park in Dundee, to Towntalk and is currently marketing the Weyside Square leisure park in Guilford town centre.

The fund is also in advanced talks for the acquisition of a further large site with three to four more large sites in early stages of negotiations. Details: www.x-leisure.co.uk