The company which signed up to manage the upcoming Cotswolds Designer Outlet has joined forces with a Dutch counterpart.

Realm has become Multi-Realm after a majority stake in the business was acquired by Multi Corporation.

It is one of Europe's largest independent retail managers and developers, operating in 15 countries with €5billion (£4.27billion) of assets under management, 6,000 tenants and 550 full-time employees.

Realm was founded in 2001 and is a B Corp certified business which has worked on 19 properties representing 45% of the UK outlet market. Its portfolio includes the London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park, Resorts World, Birmingham, Lakeside Village, Doncaster and Ringsted Outlet in Denmark.

The deal between the two companies will bring extensive experience to the running of the new Cotswolds Designer Outlet.

The shopping centre is being developed by Cheltenham firm Robert Hitchins Ltd as the final piece of its long-term vision for a 300-acre site next to J9 of the M5 in Ashchurch, Tewkesbury.

Contractor Bouygues is on site and when complete the outlet is expected to boast around 95 shops and an annual sales turnover of £88.6m.

The deal with Realm will mark Multis return to the UK and mean it has a hand in the running of the new outlet, due to open in spring 2025.

It had a significant presence here between 2001 and 2021 having developed or managed retail destinations including the Southgate Centre in Bath, Victoria Square Belfast and Glasgow's St. Enoch Centre.

It went through a management buyout from Blackstone in 2022 and is owned and led by co-chief executives Elmar Schoonbrood and Steven Poelman.

In a statement, Multi Corporation said it will manage over 160 assets in the UK and Europe, and its UK operations will be called, Multi-Realm.

Realm managing director, Dan Mason, and leasing director, Christine Grace, remain as co-owners of the business. All 40 members of the existing Realm teams based in the UK and Denmark will continue to work for the combined company.

Mr Mason said: "We are delighted to welcome Multi Corporation as an investor in our company. Multi's excellent track record and strong corporate culture make them the perfect partner for us as we seek to grow our portfolio of retail assets under management.

"We will be targeting bigger, premium shopping centres, retail destinations and further outlets with asset management, development and property management angles and are ideally placed to drive value for owners and investors."

He added: "Our experience in operating outlet centres provides us with extensive sales and performance data, and this intelligence enables us to pursue very active asset management, maintain excellent occupier relationships and drive performance with our brand partners and clients.

"Multi's operation of a large portfolio of shopping centres will give us pan European leasing insight and contacts with brands, and a service to clients and investors which, we believe, will be second to none."

Elmar Schoonbrood, co-chief executive of Multi, said: "We are excited to take a majority stake in Realm and partner up with the existing management team as we see a huge opportunity in the UK market for a best-in-class retail specialist.

"Multi has a proven track record of (re)developing, managing, and turning around retail assets across Europe and together with Realm, under the leadership of Dan and Christine, we look forward to implementing our ambitious growth plans for the UK market."