Mitiska enters Portugal with two retail purchases

Financial details were not disclosed.

The move continues Mitiska REIM’s European expansion, after successfully entering the Spanish, German and French markets over the past 16 months.

'We are delighted to have entered Portugal, a market where we are now seeing good momentum in respect to both the economic cycle and real estate market,' commented Axel Despriet, CEO of Mitiska REIM.

'In the aftermath of the economic crisis, a number of retailers and investors held back from Portugal. We are now seeing precisely the opposite trend, with real estate transactions at near record highs, and retailers and investors flowing back in, drawn by the improved economic environment and attractive risk/return opportunities.'

Parque Mondego, located just outside the city of Coimbra next to the main Lisbon-Porto motorway, is currently one of the largest retail parks in Portugal, with a gross leasable area of more than 29,000 m2. It consists of 23 retail units, with tenants such as Decathlon, Bricomarche, Deborla, Minipreço and Radio Popular, and parking for 1,300 cars.

Focus Park Canidelo (pictured) is an urban convenience retail park located in the Greater Porto area. It has a gross leasable area of 8,400 m2, comprising 4 retail units, anchored by a Jumbo supermarket, with retail brands Seaside and Espaço Casa, and a Mais Fit gym. The site has parking for 466 cars.

Both retail parks have been acquired by Mitiska REIM’s First Retail International 2 fund (FRI2), which successfully closed at €223 mln at the end of 2016.

'When we launched our FRI2 fund just over a year ago, one of our goals was to capitalise on the retail park opportunities we saw in the more mature Western European markets,' added Luc Geuten, executive chairman of Mitiska REIM.

'Today’s announcement is another step in the delivery of these plans, and further consolidates our position as the leading specialist investor in the retail park sector across Europe.'