Listed French property company Klepierre and Dutch pension fund ABP have closed their previously announced EUR 2.7bn acquisition of Steen & Strom, the largest shopping centre owner in the Scandinavia region. After this transaction, Klepierre now owns 56.1% of Steen & Strom's share capital and ABP 43.9%.
Listed French property company Klepierre and Dutch pension fund ABP have closed their previously announced EUR 2.7bn acquisition of Steen & Strom, the largest shopping centre owner in the Scandinavia region. After this transaction, Klepierre now owns 56.1% of Steen & Strom's share capital and ABP 43.9%.
Klepierre said the acquisition allows it to become the leader on the Scandinavian market with 30 shopping centres owned and the first management team in the region. Steen & Strom shopping centres in Norway, Sweden and Denmark have a value of nearly EUR 2.5bn, while the company also has a development pipeline in excess of EUR 1bn.
‘This acquisition enables Klepierre to diversify its real estate holdings, revenue stream and development portfolio while making Scandinavia its second largest region of operation, behind France, in terms of rent,’ the company said in a statement.
In light of existing debt, Klepierre said it had invested roughly EUR 601mln by fully drawing down on available lines of financing. Klepierre said it had also appointed BNP Paribas, its majority shareholder with a 50.7% stake, to lead manage a planned capital increase of about EUR 300mln should market conditions permit. BNP has confirmed that it plans to acquire a share in the new equity issue that will allow it to at least maintain its 50.7% holding. Just this week, Klepierre said it has also entered into a four-year EUR 400mln committed credit facility with BNP Paribas. Unused on the date of the acquisition, the credit facility is intended to increase resources to carry out projects currently under development.
