French listed firms Klépierre, Unibail-Rodamco and Altarea as well as French and Belgian insurers AXA and AG are said to be looking at retail assets put up for sale by CBRE Global Investors earlier this year.
French listed firms Klépierre, Unibail-Rodamco and Altarea as well as French and Belgian insurers AXA and AG are said to be looking at retail assets put up for sale by CBRE Global Investors earlier this year.
According to market sources, the asset manager recently hired Morgan Stanley to sell the shopping centre portfolio owned by its Retail Property Fund France Belgium (RPFFB) as part of the fund’s termination programme.
The 10-property Celsius portfolio comprises eight malls in France which account for about half of the fund's value. They include La Vache Noire in Arcueil, Mayol in Toulon, Marques Avenue de Troyes as well as Bosquet in Pau, France.
In Belgium the fund owns a 50% interest in Wijnegem and the entirety of Waasland near Antwerp, two of the country’s most successful shopping centres which are believed to be valued at a total of €600-700 mln.
AXA, which owns the other 50% of Wijnegen through a Belgian fund, is believed to be considering taking control of the remaining 50%.
In total, the sale of the Belgian and French portfolio is expected to fetch some €1-1.2 bn, depending on the valuation of the French properties, which are less performing.
RPFFB, which counts GIC, ABP and Bouwfonds among its shareholders, reaches maturity at end-2015 after its investors decided not to extend the life of the fund.
The disposal follows RPFFB's sale in July last year of its 50% stake in the Espace René Coty shopping centre in the Northern French port city of Le Havre to Dutch financial Group ING's Nationale-Nederlanden insurance arm for €63 mln. Nationale-Nederlanden currently owns the mall jointly with French retail specialist Klépierre.
