Commerz Real sells stakes in Canadian malls for EUR 413m

German real estate investor Commerz Real has sold its 50% interests in four shopping centres in Canada to its joint venture partner Ivanhoé Cambridge for CA$508 mln (about EUR 413 mln).

The transaction covered the Mic Mac Mall in Halifax, Place Ste-Foy in Québec City, Galéries Rive Nord in Montréal, and the Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria. The portfolio includes more than 500 rental units on a total floor area of about 222,000 m².

Montreal-based Ivanhoé Cambridge is a subsidiary of pension company Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and is one of the largest owners of shopping centres in the world.

Commerz Real is part of Germany's Commerzbank and has some EUR 37 bn of assets under management.

Commerz Real's the hausInvest global open-ended real estate fund became 50% owner of the portfolio of Canadian shopping centres in 2004, with Ivanhoé Cambridge holding the other 50%. In a statement, Commerz Real said regular investments in the assets since then had resulted in a value increase in excess of 64%.

The price paid by Ivanhoé Cambridge included the assumption of CA$138 mln in debt.

Originally, the hausInvest global portfolio included six Canadian shopping centres. The other two assets, South Centre Mall in Calgary and the Guildford Town Centre near Vancouver, were sold in spring 2010.