The Ardent Companies, the US-based real estate investment firm, has made its second investment in the UK, acquiring a shopping centre from Lendlease. The Touchwood mall in Solihull was sold by the Lendlease Retail Partnership fund to Ardent’s Strategic Fund I. The acquisition of the 650,000sqft asset comes less than three months after Ardent announced it had launched a UK business and raised $230m (€188m) for the UK-focused Strategic Fund I. In March, it made its debut investment, acquiring 1.4m sqft of industrial space from M7 Real Estate. In line with its strategy in the US, Ardent plans to acquire and reposition a range of real estate assets, including also offices and build-to-rent housing. Ardent said Touchwood, which includes retail, restaurant, leisure space and John Lewis store and Cineworld cinema, is set to benefit from the creation of the HS2 high-speed train line that will connect it to London within 38 minutes. Matt Shulman, CEO at Ardent, said: “Touchwood is in a particularly strong location and already has an impressive retail and leisure line-up. “The opportunity to work closely with top brands, Solihull Council and the community at an exciting time for the wider area was an important part of our decision to invest.”