French retail specialist Altarea, pension fund giant ABP and life insurer Predica have created a new vehicle, Altablue, through which to conduct their purchase of the Cap 3000 shopping centre in Nice. The three partners bought the mall from Galeries Lafayette in early May for EUR 450 mln. The deal reflects a net initital yield of 4.65%.

French retail specialist Altarea, pension fund giant ABP and life insurer Predica have created a new vehicle, Altablue, through which to conduct their purchase of the Cap 3000 shopping centre in Nice. The three partners bought the mall from Galeries Lafayette in early May for EUR 450 mln. The deal reflects a net initital yield of 4.65%.

The three companies told PropertyEU they will plough EUR 100 mln into Altablue, while ABP and Predica will provide a further EUR 200 mln of equity, receiving interest at a preferred rate. The rest will be covered by bank loans whose terms have yet to be negotiated.

Over the next five years, the partners plan to carry out an extensive refurbishment of the shopping centre, which currently comprises 126 stores and 3,000 parking spaces in the Plaine du Var, a vast urban development project qualified as an 'Operation d'Interet National', or 'operation of national interest'.

The full story appears in the June edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe