Aviva Investors and LaSalle Investment Management have bought a Spanish shopping centre for their jointly managed European open-ended fund.

The El Tormes shopping centre in Salamanca was bought for €70m for Encore+, bringing the fund’s asset to €1.2bn.

El Tormes was acquired in a share deal from Retail Property Fund Iberica (RPFI), managed by CBRE Global Investors.

The 22,600sqm shopping centre includes premium fashion retailers, restaurants, supermarkets and speciality retailers.

Jeffrey King, fund manager for Encore+ at Aviva Investors, said: “We are very pleased to be making a further investment in Spain as Encore+ continues to diversify its portfolio across the continent.

“In addition to Spanish retail being a core target for us, this new acquisition also fits well with our strategy of targeting dominant shopping centres in strong and sustainable locations across Europe.

“This asset is poised to benefit from the continued recovery in Spain, while also offering the potential for specific asset management initiatives to improve the centre’s performance.”

Ian Williamson, investment manager for Encore+ at LaSalle Investment Management, said the acquisition increased the fund’s diversification, bringing its retail exposure close to one-third of the overall portfolio.

He said: “We see this as an opportunity to generate value by repositioning the asset within the core-plus spectrum and maximising its strong fundamentals.”

Topics

Related Companies