Citycon is acquiring one of the largest shopping centres in Finland from funds managed by London-based equity firm Doughty Hanson for about EUR 329 mln. The agreement on the sale of the Iso Omena shopping centre in Helsinki was signed on Tuesday and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September. Iso Omena will be Citycon's largest shopping centre, and the company's eighth mall in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Citycon is acquiring one of the largest shopping centres in Finland from funds managed by London-based equity firm Doughty Hanson for about EUR 329 mln. The agreement on the sale of the Iso Omena shopping centre in Helsinki was signed on Tuesday and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September. Iso Omena will be Citycon's largest shopping centre, and the company's eighth mall in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
'As a committed, long-term shopping centre owner, developer and operator, we will continue actively to redevelop and extend Iso Omena. This centre, under our management and after two to three years' development phase, will enhance the synergetic and qualitative dimensions of Citycon's shopping centre portfolio,' said ceo Petri Olkinuora. Citycon will finance the acquisition with a mixture of existing credit lines of credit and new financing.
Iso Omena was completed in 2001 and is Finland's fifth largest modern shopping centre with 120 retail units and 2,200 parking spaces. Its comprises a gross leasable area of 61,300 m2, of which 49,000 m2 are retail premises. Citycon said there is the potential to further expand by 7,000 m2. The centre's anchor tenants are the hypermarkets Citymarket and Prisma, the fashion store chains Hennes & Mauritz, Kappahl and Dressman as well as a Finnkino cinema theatre.
On completion of the acquisition, Citycon will own a 660,000 m2 portfolio of 32 shopping centres in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania.
