Invesco bags €358m Spanish hypermarket portfolio

Invesco Real Estate has exchanged contracts to acquire a portfolio of 11 hypermarkets in Northern Spain, for IRE's open-ended pan-European fund.

The deal, which amounts to €358 mln, is a sale and leaseback deal with real estate firm Gonuri Harizartean, whose tenant is the Eroski Group, one of Spain’s largest retailers.

Gonuri Harizartean is owned by Group Topland (50%), Eroski Group (45%) and Mondragon Investments (5%).

This is the fund’s third acquisition in Spain since beginning its acquisition programme in 2009 and marks the firm’s conviction that Spain is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the Eurozone and there are interesting opportunities available today for institutional investors.

The acquisition takes IRE’s pan-European fund beyond €2 bn.

'The fund has always had a target weighting towards Spain,' said Paddy Bingham, managing director - Fund Management at IRE. 'Thanks to our local transactions team who understand where the real value lies within the Spanish marketplace and have the right contacts to gain access to the right deals off-market. We are delighted to have secured this quality hypermarket portfolio, which supports the core income return of the fund.'

Alejandro Monge, director - Transactions, Spain at IRE added: 'There is significant regional diversity in Spain. In general, the major cities and Northern Spain are the more affluent and dynamic regions, and it is this diversity that is important to understand, particularly in the retail sector.'

The transaction is expected to close at the end of February.

The assets are leased under a 25-year term. They provide around 136,000 m2 of gross space in the Basque Country and Navarra regions, two of Spain’s wealthiest regions.