AXA Real Estate Investment Managers and a fund affiliated with Apollo Global Management have acquired a portfolio of 25 retail and leisure assets in Italy from Prelios for around €290 mln.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers and a fund affiliated with Apollo Global Management have acquired a portfolio of 25 retail and leisure assets in Italy from Prelios for around €290 mln.
The assets were acquired through a new Italian regulated real estate fund set up by AXA Real Estate and the Apollo fund (Apollo European Principal Finance Fund II).
Prelios sold the portfolio through Olinda Fondo Shops, a listed real estate mutual fund. It contains 25 assets, including four entertainment centres, five cash & carry stores, five furniture retailers, three retail malls and seven high street shops and other assets.
The portfolio has a total leasable area of around 260,000 m2 and is mainly located in the northern Italian provinces of Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto. Over two-thirds of the portfolio is anchored by five leading global retail and leisure brands.
Major shopping and entertainment centres within the portfolio include Bicocca Village and Gate (40,000 m2) in northern Milan; the Moncalieri 45 (34,000 m2), located just south of the northern city of Turin; the Grotte Centre (18,000 m2), located in the town of Camerano, near Ancona; and the UCI Pioltello (16,000 m2), located in an eastern suburb of Milan.
Alessio Lucentini, head of Italian asset management and transactions at AXA Real Estate, commented: ‘This latest acquisition, our eighth and most substantial in Italy since re-entering the country in mid-2013, is further evidence of our belief in the positive long term prospects of the Italian real estate market. After completion of this transaction, we manage over €1 bn of assets in Italy.’