The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Unibail-Rodamco are teaming up to invest in German retail.
CPPIB’s European subsidiary is paying €394m for a 46.1% stake in Unibail-Rodamco’s mfi management für immobilien platform.
The Canadian institutional will also invest €366m in the finances of mfi, which holds seven shopping centres in Germany, including assets in Munich, Berlin and Leipzig.
The platform also asset manages 18 shopping centres.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
CPPIB is currently invested in the CentrO shopping centre with Unibail‐Rodamco.
Andrea Orlandi, CPPIB’s managing director and head of real estate investments in Europe, said: “This agreement allows CPPIB to build on our existing relationship with Unibail‐Rodamco.
“As a long‐term investor, this transaction provides us with the unique opportunity to achieve immediate scale in the retail sector in Europe’s largest economy.”
Separately, CPPIB announced that it and Singapore’s GIC acquired a retail asset in South Korea for $263m (€230m).
The joint venture said it bought the D-Cube Retail Mall in Seoul from Daesung Industries.
The deal is CPPIB’S first in South Korean retail.
Jimmy Phua, CPPIB’s managing director and head of real estate investments in Asia, said the mall was a “prime retail asset in a growing and affluent area”.
Completed in 2011, D-Cube is next to Sindorim Station, which connects Seoul with Incheon and other metropolitan cities.
The mall will be rebranded as Hyundai Department store and operated by Hyundai, which will reposition the asset.
Loh Wai Keong, GIC real estate managing director and co-head for Asia, said the investment reflected the investors’ confidence in the long-term growth of Korean domestic demand.
GIC, Keong said, was investing in high-quality, centrally located assets with upside potential.
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