Ikea owner buys Brighton shopping mall, its second in the UK

Firm plans to convert empty Debenhams site in city centre as part of its ‘global expansion strategy’

Ikea’s parent company has bought its second UK shopping mall, in Brighton, for an estimated £145m as part of efforts to bring its furniture stores into city centres.

The world’s largest furniture retailer plans to convert an empty Debenhams site in the south coast city’s Churchill Square centre, about a third of which sits empty, into a new Ikea store which is expected to open within two years.