DEGI in 2nd Italian retail purchase

Property investment manager Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immobilienfonds (DEGI) has acquired the Borgogioioso shopping centre through its open-ended property fund DEGI International for EUR 51.5 mln.

Borgogioioso is located in the heart of the Italian Emilia Romagna region, on the periphery of Carpi, a town with 64,000 inhabitants. The catchment of the centre comprises 200,000 people within a 30-minute drive. The shopping mall, completed in 2005, is fully let to leading retail brands such as Benetton, Champion, and the electrical goods retailer Comet. In a press release, the German property group said the mall had about three million visitors in 2006.

The shopping centre, was previously owned by the construction company CMB and the Italian hypermarket chain COOP Estense. It comprises a retail gallery with 26 shop units on an area of 8,043 m2, an OBI DIY superstore covering about 2,600 m² and a parking lot with 2,257 parking spaces.

This is the second retail investment by DEGI in Italy, and added to the Factory Outlet Centre's acquisition in Val di Chiana. Bärbel Schomberg, member of DEGI’s Board, pointed out that the location offers high turnover opportunities and moderate rents in comparison to top city locations. 'We can see further selective investment opportunities in Italian retail properties. This is a good moment for investors to buy in at low risk, since on a European comparison Italy still features a low density of retailing space', added Schomberg.

Following the transaction, the proportion of retail properties in the fund is raised by 2.6 % to around 13.6 %, said DEGI. Its property fund owns 23 properties in nine different countries, and has approx. EUR 1.75 bn under management.