REAL ESTATE - Property developer and manager Corio has acquired a 40% stake in a Turkish retail centre in a €55m transaction, it said.
The deal involves the Teras Park shopping centre, comprising of 55,000m2 of gross lettable area, currently under construction in the town of Denizli, Corio stated.
Denizli, is a fast growing university city in the Aegean region, located on important crossroads, and near the tourist attraction of Pamukkale.
The four-storey Teras Park, which includes over 1,400 parking spaces, will be Denizli’s first shopping centre, Corio indicated. A Carrefour hypermarket and a large leisure centre will be part of it. Most lease contracts will be euro-based, it added.
The retail centre is being developed and co-owned by textile manufacturer Tan Group, which has hired well-known architects and retail experts for the design. Corio will add its expertise as manager and owner of shopping centres in Europe.
Uunder the deal, the property developer will have a first right of refusal should Tan Group want to sell its interest.
Both parties will decide jointly on the management of the retail centre, Corio said. It however stressed that the transaction is subject to approval of the Turkish authorities
The addition of Teras Park shopping centre brings Corio’s total variable pipeline in Turkey to approximately €209m. It includes two projects in Istanbul and one in Ankara. Moreover, Corio holds a 46.9% stake in the €246m retail centre Akmerkez in Istanbul.
In line with these developments, Corio said it is setting-up office in Instanbul, to locally manage its projects and to further expand its Turkish portfolio. It has appointed Koray Ozgul as chief executive officer in Turkey.
It added: "Ozgul has many years of experience in project and acquisition management in various multinational retail environments."
Corio is one of the largest listed retail property companies in Europe, focusing on retail centres. Of its €5bn portfolio, 80% is invested in retail, mainly dominant shopping centres in its core market covering the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
