A property company is set to increase its stake in a Kent shopping centre to nearly total ownership in a deal with more than £27m.

Capital & Regional has increased its holding of the Mall Fund, which owns the Mall Chequers in Maidstone, to 99.13%. It previously held 91.82%.

It comes after the Mall Fund agreed to take back 69.5m units owned by seven minority shareholders, representing 7.38% of the total ownership of the group.

Capital & Regional said the move is in line with its strategy to acquire 100% of the Mall, which also runs shopping centres in Blackburn, Camberley, Luton, Walthamstow and Wood Green.

To help the deal go through, the Mall Fund agreed to amend its five-year secured bank loan with Morgan Stanley.

It will convert its £25m capex agreement into an additional loan of £30m, which increases the total loan to £380m.

Capital & Regional chief executive Hugh Scott-Barrett said: “The redemption of the units by the Mall Fund marks further progress in our aim of buying out all of the minority unit holders and will help to facilitate restructuring the Fund to drive cost efficiencies.”

The remaining 0.87% not owned by the Capital & Regional is held by two accounts.