Slate Asset Management has expanded its portfolio in Europe with the acquisition of a 20,250sqm grocery-anchored retail park situated in Northern Ireland from Hammerson.

The $6bn (€5.2bn) real estate-focused alternative investment manager said its affiliate, Slate Abbey Holdings, together with existing limited partners of Slate, have bought Abbey Retail Park situated in Newtownabbey for an undisclosed sum.

Last week, UK real estate investment trust Hammerson announced selling Parc Tawe, Swansea and Abbey Retail Park, individually generating proceeds totalling £55m (€66m).

Anchored by retailer Tesco, the site maintains a 12-year weighted average lease term and includes 16,190sqm of development land. Additional tenants include B&Q and Currys PC World.

Brady Welch, a founding partner at Slate, said this is a significant transaction that marks Slate Asset Management’s first European deal outside of Slate’s German grocery real estate strategy.

“The acquisition of Abbey Retail Park reflects our growing interest in, and commitment to, deploying further capital across the continent. We look forward to uncovering similarly attractive investment opportunities in the future.”

Since December 2016, Slate has completed a total of 250 property acquisitions across Europe, totaling over 450,000 m² of gross leasable space and has established offices in London, Dublin and Frankfurt.