Image caption Rockspring paid £45.6m for the centre in Ballymena

The Fairhill Shopping Centre in County Antrim, has been sold to a UK-based property fund.

Rockspring paid £45.6m for the 295,000 sq ft centre.

It was sold by Corbo, the property company owned by local businessman Sam Morrison.

Some of Corbo's bank loans were sold to US investment funds Davidson Kempner and Kennedy Wilson in 2014. As a result, the company has been selling properties.

Earlier this year, it sold the Lisnagelvin retail park in Londonderry and the Showgrounds retail park in Omagh, County Tyrone.

The new owner of the Fairhill invests mainly in the UK and Germany and has about 8bn euro (£5.8bn) of assets.

Cordatus Real Estate will act as asset managers for the centre.

Richard Bains, Rockspring partner said: "Fairhill Shopping Centre is a prime shopping centre with a strong national retailer base.

"As with the other shopping centre acquisitions we have made in Taunton, Aylesbury and Leeds, this transaction is in line with the fund's strategy to source properties that will benefit from expert asset management and will, ultimately, provide long-term income streams for our investors.

"This is Rockspring's first acquisition in Northern Ireland, and we are excited to be working with Cordatus who have extensive experience working in this jurisdiction."

Mike Channing, director at Cordatus said: "We are delighted to be working with Rockspring on this important project.

"Fairhill offers a great opportunity for added value asset management and we look forward to working closely with Rockspring to realise the full potential of the centre."