Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire a 60% stake in a portfolio of retail assets in Italy, PropertyEU has learned.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire a 60% stake in a portfolio of retail assets in Italy, PropertyEU has learned.
The acquisition, which values the entire portfolio at over €650 mln, is being financed by lender Goldman Sachs with leverage of between 50 and 60%, in one of the largest loans provided in Europe by a single bank in recent months. The deal reflects a gross yield of over 8%.
The assets are being acquired from Auchan Group's Gallerie Commerciali Italia, which last year sought to contribute them to a new fund managed by BNP Paribas REIM Italia to attract new investors.
PropertyEU reported in June that MSREI was in advanced talks to buy the assets. Closing is expected for the first half of September.
According to well-informed market sources, the package includes 15 retail schemes between shopping malls and retail parks.
The sale is aimed at allowing GCI and Auchan to finance a large development programme planned in Italy. The group operates 51 Auchan hypermarkets as well as 1,700 supermarkets in Italy.
GCI owns a total of 46 retail centres in Italy, largely anchored by Auchan hypermarkets.
Auchan took full control of Gallerie Commerciali Italia in January last year, after acquiring the remaining 49% stake from US retail REIT Simon Property Group.
Immochan, Auchan's fully owned property arm, took full control of the €1 bn worth of assets, which provide a total of 500,000 m2 gross lettable area distributed over 2,100 stores.
