Centrum, Signa link up in Munich, Hamburg deal

Austria's Signa Group has teamed up with Dusseldorf-based Centrum Group to acquire the Karstadt Oberpollinger and Karstadt Sports shop in Munich for around EUR 250 mln.

René Benko of Signa and Uwe Reppegather of Centrum have formed a 50/50 partnership to buy the two retail properties from the Highstreet consortium, comprising Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Funds (51%), Deutsche Bank's RREEF funds (24%), Milan-based Prelios, (12%), Generali (11%) and the Borletti Group. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.

Bank Bayerische Landesbank has provided finance for the Karstadt Sports shop transaction while an Eurohypo-led bank consortium has financed the Oberpollinger deal.

The Karstadt Oberpollinger offers around 29,000 m² of retail space across four floors, while the neighboring Karstadt sports shop involves around 10,500 m² of retail space. Both assets are leased on the long term to Karstadt.

Additionally, the companies have also announced the purchase from Vattenfall Europe of the Spitalerstraße 22-26 mixed-use scheme in Hamburg, which will be vacated by the end of the year and completely renovated by the new owners. The operation, which is said to amount to some EUR 250 mln, was financed by Bayerische Landesbank.

'We are committed to a long-term partnership with the tenant Karstadt and will work on joint solutions to optimize the properties,' said Uwe Reppegather of Centrum.

The operations represent the second joint venture between Signa and Centrum after the acquisition and development of the Sevens shopping centre in Dusseldorf.