Hammerson chief executive officer David Atkins today said that much of the money raised from the sale of its London portfolio will be invested in France.

The company announced two weeks ago that it would be selling its London portfolio in order to focus the business on retail.

Atkins, talking at the MIPIM conference in Cannes, said initially the money raised from the sale of London offices would be invested in its Les Terrasses du Port scheme in Marseilles and “a couple of other schemes that are in the pipeline.

However, in the long term he said he expects the geographic waiting of the business to stay roughly the same with around two thirds in the UK andf one third in France.

He also discussed his view on the strategy in the face of the difficult retail environment and talked about the prcedure for selling the London portfolio.

You can see all the laest news, interviews and more from Cannes on the Property Week MIPIM microsite.