REAL ESTATE - The executive and supervisory boards of the property investor DIM Vastgoed are persisting on selling the company’s entire portfolio of US retail centres, they .

Following this decision, DIM has signed an exclusive marketing contract with CB Richard Ellis it announced in a letter to its shareholders.

The €307m company said that it has taken into account that its two main shareholders – Equity One and Homburg Invest – have objected to a sale for at least €15.75 per share during the shareholders’ meeting on 22 March.

Both main shareholders have a stake of approximately 45% and 24% respectively.

"Equity One and Homburg have indicated that they only want to take a decision about a concrete proposal. The marketing and sale process is aimed at submitting such a proposal to the shareholders," DIM explained.

"It is still our opinion that the present market offers good opportunities for a sale price above the intrinsic value of the going concern. Therefore, the divestment of the portfolio could be more attractive to the shareholders than the continuation of the present strategy," the company stated.

DIM Vastgoed will present the results of the marketing and sales process during a general shareholders’ meeting, it said.

Recently DIM reported a direct result of €1.52m, during the first quarter. It expects to pay out a dividend of €1.13 over 2007.

Rotterdam-based DIM Vastgoed is a closed-end real estate investment company with variable capital. Its investments comprise of 20 neighbourhood retail centres and high occupancy ‘power centres’ in the US south-east.