GLOBAL - Plaza Centers has agreed the sale of the majority of its US shopping centres for $1.5bn (€1.18bn) to a joint venture comprising Blackstone and DDR Corp.

The malls - 47 of the 49 owned by Plaza EDT Retail Trust in the US - are spread across 20 states, leaving EDT's parent company EPN with two properties worth less than $50m.

The deal, subject to due diligence expected to complete by the end of January, should close by June, Plaza said.

Its president and chief executive Ran Shtarkman said the portfolio of high-yielding properties was acquired at a time when values were "clearly depressed", allowing for enhanced capital and income value.

Meanwhile, AMF Pension's retail arm AMF Fastigheter has acquired three shopping centres in Sweden's capital.

The company did not disclose the value of the three properties, acquired from three different owners, but noted that real estate in Stockholm had historically proven a good investment offering stable returns.

Chief executive Mats Hederos said: "This acquisition is both strategically important and a wonderful addition to our other two key Stockholm retail projects, the Gallerian at Hamngatan and MOOD Stockholm. By owning several properties in the inner city, we can utilise the business skills we have built up."

In other news, HB Reavis Group has sold the Aupark Tower in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava to Heitman European Property Partners IV.

The sale, agreed in December, valued the office building completed in 2008 at €85.6m.

It is currently fully leased to a number of international tenants, including KPMG, Proctor & Gamble and Safoni-Aventis.

Moving to the UK, the West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT) has acquired a central London property from Crescent Heights for £65m (€78m).

The building's sale price reflects an initial yield of 5.94%, with Crescent Heights disposing of the property - its first acquisition in the London market - after three years.

The Theobalds Road unit has a standing tenant until September 2014 and was substantially renovated by one of its previous owners, Land Securities.

A further deal in UK, this time by LaSalle Investment Management, saw the company buy the Market Walk Shopping Centre in Devon for a pension scheme.

While neither the scheme nor the sale price was disclosed, LaSalle said initial proposals to improve Newton Abbot's only shopping centre were already underway.

Meanwhile, Legal & General property has acquired Stevenage Leisure Park for its Managed Fund for £40m.

Bought from Aviva Life & Pensions UK, the park has a number of sitting tenants including, including cinema chain Cineworld, with the average tenant still left with 10 years before their leases expire.

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