German insurance group Allianz has joined forces with Dutch financial group ING to acquire the Fiumara shopping centre in the northern Italian city of Genoa for around €150 mln, PropertyEU has learned.
German insurance group Allianz has joined forces with Dutch financial group ING to acquire the Fiumara shopping centre in the northern Italian city of Genoa for around €150 mln, PropertyEU has learned.
The vendor is CBRE Global Investors.
The scheme, located near the city's famous aquarium, provides around 25,000 m2 of retail space across 120 retail units over three levels and includes an Uci multiplex as well as a 15,000 m2 amusement park.
ING and Allianz signed the preliminary purchase agreement at end-2013. CBRE advised Allianz on the transaction.
'This is Allianz's first retail acquisition in Italy since the crisis, and we are very happy with this asset and the relationship with the manager of the scheme,' Allianz's head of Southern Europe Mario Montagner said on Thursday during the Expo Italia Real Estate fair in Milan.
Montagner said the new owners plan to invest 'significantly' in the mall in the medium term. 'The scheme offers significant potential to add value and this fits with our investment strategy since we are a long-term investor,' he said. Allianz Real Estate is also currently working on a new shopping centre project in Trieste, Northern Italy, he added.
CBRE Global Investors will continue to asset manage the Fiumara centre following the sale.
With the purchase, ING is taking back control of the scheme which it initially bought in 2008 through its investment management unit ING REIM, later taken over by CBRE GI. ING REIM paid €240 mln at the time for the scheme, representing a yield of 5%. The vendor was the Schroder European Property Investments N1 fund.
MAJOR COMEBACK
Allianz said last year that it was planning a major comeback in Italy after having been virtually absent from the property investment market for two years. In 2013, the insurance giant appointed Montagner as new head of the Southern European platform and said it was planning to spend some €500 mln in Italy. Allianz recently bought the Deutsche Bank head office in Milan and the Acea office building in Rome from Morgan Stanley's Italian fund management arm.
Fiumara is one of a string of assets put up for sale by CBRE GI in Italy. The group is also seeking a buyer for the I Petali shopping centre in Reggio Emilia. The mall is managed by Multi Development and provides nearly 28,000 m2 of gross lettable space. It was bought by ING REIM (now CBRE GI) in March 2008 for €91 mln.
In Turin, CBRE GI is believed to be in negotiations to sell the 8 gallery shopping centre for between €60 and €80 mln to Pimco-backed GWM.