CPPIB acquires Centro stake for EUR 270m

The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has added a 50% stake in the massive Centro Oberhausen shopping centre in Germany to its growing portfolio of real estate investments in Europe. CPPIB's equity investment in the EUR 1.3 bn 'super-regional' centre comes to EUR 270 mln.

Stadium Group will retain its 50% interest in Centro and will continue to manage the shopping centre.

Centro is a 150,000-m² shopping and leisure centre with fashion, entertainment and restaurants. Located 40 kilometres north of Dusseldorf, Centro draws from a population of approximately 11.7 million people that live within a 60-minute drive of the complex in both Germany and the Netherlands.

The joint venture will complete a 17,000 m² extension by the end of 2012, anchored by a 7,800 m² Peek & Cloppenburg department store.

The Canadian pension fund's intention to invest in Centro was originally reported by various media sources in February this year as the latest in a series of major deals in Europe.

Last November CPPIB teamed up with Dutch pension asset manager APG to buy 50% of the retail component of Westfield Stratford City at the site of the 2012 London Olympics for around EUR 1 bn. In the same month CPPIB and LaSalle Investment Management acquired a regional shopping centre in the city of Hürth, Germany for EUR 157.3 mln. CPPIB owns 80% of the centre.

CPPIB has also worked in joint venture with UK REIT Hammerson. The pair bought the office asset 10 Gresham Street in the City of London for about EUR 211 mln in August last year. They acquired Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow for about EUR 334 mln in December 2009.

CPPIB invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. At end-December, the CPP fund totalled C$140.1 bn (EUR 101.5 bn).

Stadium Group is a private group of companies specializing in retail property development, investment and asset management in the UK and Germany. Stadium's largest asset is Centro, but it also owns a portfolio of retail parks in the UK.