Deutsche Bank is reportedly leading the race to acquire the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona after having made a €500 mln bid on the asset.
According to Spanish press reports, Deutsche Bank has emerged ahead of several other bidders including ECE, Merlin, CBRE GI and TH Real Estate in the bid to acquire the asset from Northwood Investors in what could become the largest single real estate asset deal of the year.
The transaction is expected to be signed by the end of the month.
Northwood bought Diagonal Mar in 2014 for a bargain price believed to be around €250 mln from a group of investors represented by Avestus Capital Partners and including Ireland's bad bank NAMA. The US investor bought 60,000 m2 of the 87,500 m2 mall which was developed by Hines in 2001 and designed by shopping centre expert Jean-Louis Solal and architect Robert A.M. Stern.
The remaining 27,000 m2 of the mall is owned by Spanish anchor tenant Alcampo.
Quinlan Private, which rebranded as Avestus in 2010, bought the mall from Deka in 2006 for some €300 mln. Deka had bought the asset for €240 mln in 2002.
The centre - the second largest in Barcelona - is situated on a prime freehold site located three miles northeast of Barcelona’s city centre in the 22@ district. It is nearly fully let to 190 tenants including Media Markt, Fnac, Primark, Zara, and H&M and includes 5,000 parking spaces.
