London-listed REIT Hammerson has appointed Maxime Depreux to the newly created role of chief operating officer – Premium Outlets, with responsibility for the company's European outlets portfolio.
Depreux will report to Timon Drakesmith, Hammerson's chief financial officer and managing director of the Premium Outlets business.
Hammerson's outlet business consists of the VIA Outlets joint venture with Dutch pension fund investor APG, European retail property fund manager Meyer Bergman and outlet operator Value Retail, as well as a separate investment in Value Retail and its assets.
Depreux's appointment is part of Hammerson's decision to contribute greater management resources to both outlet partnerships.
He began working at Hammerson France as an asset manager in 2009 before joining the Outlets team as investment director in 2014 following the creation of VIA Outlets.
During 2016, Hammerson strengthened its investments in Value Retail and VIA, increasing its stake in Value Retail to over 40% of net assets. The VIA Fund acquired five new outlets, achieving critical scale in the European outlets market and a gross asset value of €1.2 bn across 10 centres. Taken together, the combined Value Retail and VIA portfolio is now the largest by value in Europe with a gross asset value of over €6 bn across 19 centres.
The appointment coincides with the opening of a 6,900 m2 extension at Batavia Stad Fashion Outlet in The Netherlands. The extension, which opened to the public on Friday 12 May, consists of 40 new stores, widening the brand portfolio to include G-Star, Marlies Dekkers, Samsonite and Watch Station.
As part of the extension project, other labels including Tommy Hilfiger, Guess and Lindt have upsized into larger store concepts. Batavia Stad Fashion Outlet, which was acquired by VIA Outlets in 2014, now boasts over 250 international brands and welcomes over two million customers annually.
