Dutch retail investor Eurocommercial Properties has denied it is buying the Sant Cugat shopping centre in Barcelona, but does not rule out making acquisitions in Northern Spain 'should interesting opportunities arise there in the future'.
Dutch retail investor Eurocommercial Properties has denied it is buying the Sant Cugat shopping centre in Barcelona, but does not rule out making acquisitions in Northern Spain 'should interesting opportunities arise there in the future'.
Earlier this week, PropertyEU reported that the Dutch company had entered into exclusive negotiations with French REIT Altarea to buy the 42,000-m2 shopping centre in Sant Cugat del Valles, near Barcelona for a price reportedly 'in excess of EUR 110 mln'.
The centre, which was put on the market in late 2010 through Morgan Stanley's Paris office, is said to have received as many as eight bids in December. Franco-Dutch retail giant Unibail-Rodamco is believed to be among the bidders.
The planned sale of the Sant Cugat centre is part of Altarea's plans to focus on its core markets of France and Italy and to pull out of the Spanish market on the back of difficult retail market conditions and major writedowns on its Spanish portfolio.
Altarea currently owns two other properties in Spain: the 38,000-m2 Faro Bahia shopping centre project in Puerto Real, near Cadiz and the 75,000-m2 Airon office development in Valdemoro, near Madrid. According to sources, Eurocommercial is still interested in these assets.
