Auchan buys 49% of EUR 1b Italian retail JV

French hypermarket group Auchan has bought the remaining 49% stake it did not already own in Gallerie Commerciali Italia, a retail property partnership with US retail REIT Simon Property Group.

The deal, which was first tipped by PropertyEU in January last year, involves a portfolio of 46 retail galleries believed to be worth some EUR 1 bn. Financial details were not disclosed.

Immochan, Auchan's fully-owned property arm, said it is taking full control of the GCI assets, which offer a total of 500,000 m² of gross lettable area distributed over 2,100 stores.

The deal allows Auchan to 'pursue its development in Italy', where it operates 51 Auchan hypermarkets as well as 1,700 supermarkets, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

PropertyEU reported at the end of January 2011 that the French hypermarket group was mulling the acquisition of Simon Properties' stake after the US-based retail specialist had failed to find a buyer for the assets.

German insurance group Allianz was tipped as frontrunner to acquire the interest but it pulled the plug in late 2010 after analising the company's governance situation and its pre-emptive right. Italian insurer Generali and private equity group Carlyle also looked at the portfolio but decided not to go through with the purchase, sources say. Credit Suisse advised Simon Property on the sale process.

The divestment is part of Simon Property's strategy to sell off non-strategic assets in a number of European countries. In 2010, the company divested its stake in Simon Ivanhoe, a partnership with Canadian group Ivanhoe Cambridge, to Unibail-Rodamco. Simon Ivanhoe held a portfolio of seven shopping centres in France and Poland.