Citycon offloads Finnish grocery stores for €76m

Nordic shopping centre specialist Citycon has disposed of a portfolio of 13 grocery stores in Finland for around €76 mln.

The 60,000 m2 of assets was sold to a Finnish property fund for slightly less than the IFRS fair value. The transaction is expected to be closed in August.

Helsinki-listed Citycon said the disposal was in line with its strategy to focus on mid to large-sized urban shopping centres in the Nordics and Baltics.

In May Citycon entered the Norwegian market by acquiring Oslo-based Sektor Gruppen for €1.5 bn in the largest property transaction ever in Norway. The deal gave the company a presence in all four Nordic markets, as well as Estonia, and raised its gross asset value to €4.9 bn.

Christian Hohenthal, head of capital markets at JLL Finland, which advised on the sale, said: ‘We are extremely pleased to facilitate this sale in line with Citycon’s ongoing strategy. We continue to see increasing momentum in the Finnish investment market, particularly in the food grocery segment as underlined by this significant portfolio deal.’