Shopping centre specialist Corio intends to grow its portfolio in the ‘stable’ German market but the process will take time, CEO Gerard Groener told PropertyEU at EXPO REAL in Munich. The Amsterdam-listed company has already received offers to add assets to its newly established platform there following the EUR 1.3 bn deal with Multi Development earlier this year.
Shopping centre specialist Corio intends to grow its portfolio in the ‘stable’ German market but the process will take time, CEO Gerard Groener told PropertyEU at EXPO REAL in Munich. The Amsterdam-listed company has already received offers to add assets to its newly established platform there following the EUR 1.3 bn deal with Multi Development earlier this year.
Groener said that Corio’s strategy is to build up gradually. ‘There are many offers on the table to grow in Germany but the first step is to establish a local team on the ground.’ Corio took over several people when it acquired German assets from Multi in the mega deal and it is in the process of finalising the team in an office near Corio’s Forum Duisberg by Q4 this year. ‘Some of the offers will have disappeared by then, but I would rather lose a few offers than take the risk of stepping in and acquiring German assets from our headquarters in Utrecht (the Netherlands). We can start building out the portfolio when we have the people on the ground.’
Groener said that Germany is a key market as it has recovered economically quicker than its neighbours and has many important primary and secondary cities. ‘I think the German market is very stable. It does not mean we will see huge growth in Germany, as the country never has huge growth.’
Groener was speaking shortly after taking part in a discussion panel about Turkey as an investment location. The favourable demographics of Turkey compared to European countries makes it an important market for Corio. The company completed the longstanding commitment to acquire Anatolium shopping centre in Turkey for EUR 176 mln in July. Development has begun on the Taurus project and the Malatya project is in the pipeline. Of Corio’s overall portfolio of EUR 7 bn, 95% consists of shopping centres in The Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Turkey.