Hammerson confirms talks with Korea's NPS to sell French mall

UK REIT Hammerson confirmed on Tuesday that it is 'in discussions' regarding the potential sale of 51% of its interest in the O'Parinor shopping centre, Aulnay-Sous-Bois, near Paris, to South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS). The stake is said to be worth around EUR 230 mln.

The shopping centre was renovated and extended in September 2008, and currently comprises 220 stores, including major retailers such as Carrefour, H&M and Zara outlets, with an occupancy rate of 96.4%.

NPS has been investing heavily in European real estate in the past months, in a bid to increase diversification in its investment portfolio. In May the fund bought Berlin's Sony Center from a Morgan Stanley real estate fund for a price of EUR 560 mln. Last November, it agreed to acquire HSBC's headquarters in Canary Wharf, London for £772.5 mln (EUR 863 mln) in cash.

Set up in 1988, the pension fund provides retirement coverage for South Korea's private-sector employees and the self-employed.