Liberty International, through its wholly owned US subsidiary, Capital & Counties USA, said yesterday it had exchanged contracts for the purchase of a large regional shopping mall, Serramonte Shopping Centre, in Daly City, California, for $119m at an initial yield of 9%.

The Serramonte Shopping Centre is anchored by Macy's, Target and Mervyn's, with 4645 car parking spaces.

It is located at the intersection of interstate Highway 280 and Highway 1 immediately to the south of the city of San Francisco.

The centre is the centrepiece of a highly successful regional retail hub in northern California that includes a collection of big retailers such as Home Depot, Nordstrom Rack, Costco, Bed Bath and Beyond and Toys 'R Us.

The property is subject to a 66,9m nonrecourse mortgage at 6,93 % repayable in January 2005. The balance of the consideration will be provided from the group's overall cash resources.

The acquisition represents a significant step forward for the group's US entity, which had about $200m of assets at the end of last year. The acquisition will enhance earnings for the group immediately.

The centre is considered to provide a number of value-adding opportunities.

Liberty International is a big UK-listed property group owning 100% of Capital Shopping Centres, the leading regional shopping centre business, and Capital & Counties, a commercial and retail property investment and development business.

Property assets under management, including partners' interests, amount to over £5bn, of which £4,2bn is directly owned.

Liberty International has 284million ordinary shares in issue with a net asset value a share (diluted) at June 30 last year of 812p and shareholders' funds of £2,4bn at that date.

The preliminary announcement of the results for the year ended December 31 last year has been scheduled for Tuesday next week.

Liberty International has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since July 1992 and is also listed on the JSE Securities Exchange SA.