Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has injected a further £250 mln (€279 mln) in UK shopping centre REIT Intu Properties via its wholly owned subsidiary, CPPIB Credit Investments.
The subordinated loan is indirectly secured by Intu's 176,000 m2 Trafford Centre in Manchester, its largest shopping mall in the UK and one of the top five in the country. The funds will be used for Intu's ongoing development pipeline.
'This investment fits well with our strategy of providing customised, large-scale funding solutions to best-in-class operators of high-quality underlying real estate assets,' said Geoff Souter, managing director and head of private real estate debt at CPPIB. 'Intu is a valued CPPIB partner and we look forward to continue partnering with them to support their growth objectives, while at the same time, delivering solid risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund.'
CPPIB and Intu have joint ownerships in leading shopping centres in Spain, including Intu Asturias in Oviedo and Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza. On Thursday Intu announced net rental income (NRI) softened in the first six months of the year to £226 mln as underlying earnings slipped slightly to £99 mln.
CPPIB Credit's private real estate debt group invests directly in diverse types of private real estate debt including first-mortgages, B-notes, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and single-asset commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
The group targets positions from C$50 mln (€34 mln) to over C$500 mln that are backed by high-quality real estate. Since its formation in 2010, the group has invested or committed more than C$8.7 bn into commercial real estate credit transactions.
