A new property company created by Catella, called Tre Kronor Property Investment, has raised SEK 355 mln (€37 mln) and made its debut purchase of 72 grocery properties in southern Sweden from local firm Granen.
Two hundred investors subscribed for shares in the company in a capital raising organised by Catella Corporate Fiance, Catella Bank and ABG Sundal Collier, who also arranged debt financing.
'Tre Kronor Property Investment is a new Swedish real estate company focusing on prime position properties with a high proportion of grocery and community services. The largest tenants are Systembolaget and ICA,' commented Martin Malhotra, project manager for the transaction at Catella.
The new company's chairman is Bernt-Olof Gustafsson, formerly the CEO of KF Fastigheter. Its CEO is Michael Johansson, whose previous roles included that of CEO at ICA Fastigheter Sverige.
'During the placement we saw a high interest from retail investors but also from institutional investors in the real estate and grocery sectors,' commented Robert Fonovich, head of Catella’s Corporate Finance unit in Sweden, and Tord Topsholm, CEO of Catella Bank, in a joint statement.
'The project is another example of our ambition to offer our wealth management clients high quality investment opportunities in the property sector, based on our real estate expertise.'
In the summer Tre Kronor Property Investment signed a contract with the property company Granen to acquire 72 retail properties located in 68 municipalities in southern Sweden, with a lettable floor area of 78,987 m2.
After completion of the acquisition, the aim is to list the new company's shares on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm.
'It will be the first publicly listed company to offer investors the unique opportunity to benefit from this segment that has until now been largely available only to major institutional investors,' said Malhotra.
Catella Asset Management, which will launch operations in Sweden in connection with this mandate, will be responsible for the management of the properties alongside CEO Michael Johansson.
'The retail portfolio that Tre Kronor is acquiring is highly diversified, with strong tenants in attractive central locations. Catella’s Asset Management unit has a track record of successful development of portfolios of grocery properties, and we see many opportunities in the portfolio,' says Timo Nurminen, head of Catella Property Investment Management in Europe.
