GLOBAL - DEGI Europa, the open-ended real estate fund in the process of liquidating its assets, has sold a shopping centre in Germany for €157.3m to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and LaSalle Investment Management.

CPPIB and LaSalle entered into a joint venture for the transaction, whereby the Canadian institution has taken an 80% stake in Hürth Park - its first direct investment in Germany - with the remainder being owned by a value-add real estate fund managed by LaSalle.

Hürth Park is one of a number of European real estate assets DEGI Europa is planning to sell as it is wound up, which it plans to complete by September 2013.

The shopping centre is located in the German city of Hürth, 10 kilometres south of Cologne, with a leasable area of approximately 60,000 square metres and an annual rental income of approximately €12.5m.

Anchor tenants include fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg, hypermarket Real and media store Saturn.

As part of the joint venture, CPPIB and the LaSalle fund are planning a comprehensive refurbishment and repositioning of the centre.

Wenzel Hoberg, vice-president and head of international real estate investments at CPPIB, said: "We are pleased to partner alongside LaSalle to acquire Hürth Park, our first direct real estate investment in Germany.

"Hϋrth Park is a well leased and well situated regional shopping centre. This investment is fully aligned with our international retail strategy to acquire prime retail shopping centres in key markets."

David Ironside, managing director at LaSalle Germany, responsible for acquisitions in continental Europe, added: "The German real estate market continues to be one of the key markets in Europe and is set to recover significantly with very good investment opportunities.

"To take advantage of these opportunities is the order of the day - particularly in the case of a shopping centre with such manifold potential."

German company ECE will continue to be responsible for the management of Hürth Park and was involved in the due diligence process.

Jones Lang LaSalle advised Aberdeen on the transaction and conducted the sales process.
 

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