Deutsche Bank has agreed to buy the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona in the largest shopping centre deal carried out in Spain in the past few years.
Deutsche Bank has emerged ahead of several other bidders including ECE, CBRE GI and TH Real Estate in the bid to acquire the asset from Northwood Investors for €495 mln.
Northwood bought Diagonal Mar in 2014 for a bargain price believed to be around €150 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 at the peak of the market in 2006 for some €300 mln. Back in 2002, Deka bought the asset for €240 mln.
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. Opened in 2001, it registered nearly 17 million visitors last year with total retail sales of over €20 mln.
The scheme was held in a REIT structure called NW Diagonal DM1 valued at €260 mln and with €165 mln of debt.
CBRE acted for the vendor, Northwood Investors, on the deal.
John Welham, executive director of retail capital markets, EMEA at CBRE said he was 'delighted' to have advised Northwood Investors on the sale of such a significant asset. 'This deal represents the largest shopping centre transaction in Spanish history, highlighting the continuing demand for top quality commercial real estate in Europe and the ongoing flow of capital into core European destinations. Pricing remains competitive and there was strong investor demand from a range of high profile global parties which helped us achieve an optimal price.'
