July 7 (Reuters) - Property company British Land said it had exchanged contracts to sell a Debenhams store located in London's West End shopping district to aprivate investor, a sign that deals were still being struck in asector gripped with concerns around the impact of Brexit.
The sale price for the seven storey building on OxfordStreet was 400 million pounds ($517 million), the UK'ssecond-largest listed property developer said in a statementafter London markets closed on Thursday.
British Land, known for its flagship "Cheesegrater"skyscraper in London's financial district, said it had alsoexchanged contracts on retail disposals worth 99 million poundssince March 31, ahead of the valuations seen then.
Shares in British Land closed up over 3 percent at about 565pence on Thursday. Since Britain voted to leave the EuropeanUnion, its stock is down by a quarter amid mounting concernsthat demand to rent and buy commercial property could be hit.
In one of the first signs of strain in the sector, more than18 billion pounds of retail investor cash has been frozen in thelast week as several property funds suspended trading after awave of investors asked for their money back.
Three fund managers cut the value of their UK property fundsand a fourth extended a 24-hour trading suspension on Thursday,as panic continued to mount amid growing speculation thatproperty prices would be forced down as some such funds wouldmove to sell some of their buildings.
However, British Land said on Thursday it had a "strong,resilient business" and that since the vote it had exchanged 11long-term retail leases totalling 50,000 square feet and 2.1million pounds of rent on terms agreed prior to the referendum.
Overall, the lettings were 4.7 percent ahead of theirestimated rental values as of March, it added.
"British Land has entered this period of post-referendumuncertainty in a robust position... We have a modern portfoliowhich is well suited to current and future customer needs," CEOChris Grigg said in a statement. ($1 = 0.7738 pounds) (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru, editing by David Evans)
