An investment group including Norwegian billionaire businessman and property developer Petter A. Stordalen has established Aurora Eiendom, a new property company with the ambition to become one of Norway’s largest shopping centre owners.
A total of 11 cornerstone investors are betting on shopping centres with an investment of almost NOK 1.4 bn in the new company through a share issue which will help finance the acquisition by Aurora of a seed portfolio of four Norwegian malls from Nordic landlord Steen & Strøm AS.
The schemes - Vinterbro Senter in Ås Municipality on the outskirts of Oslo, Amanda Storsenter in Haugesund, Nerstranda in Tromsø and Nordbyen in Larvik – generated a turnover of NOK 3.2 bn last year.
‘Those who believe that physical shopping experiences belong to the past, are mistaken,’ said Petter A. Stordalen, who will be the company’s chairman. ‘It takes more than online shopping and Covid-19 to compete with the strengths of offering good shopping experiences, and we have the utmost faith that shopping centres with a good location and quality tenant mix will succeed for many years to come.’
Aurora Eiendom has also signed a letter of intent to acquire another large, Norwegian shopping centre for NOK 1.8 bn, lifting its portfolio to a value of NOK 4.8 bn. The acquisition will be financed through a private share placement of NOK 623 mln along with debt provided by DNB and four savings banks in the SpareBank 1-alliansen group.
Pangea Property Partners is the company’s debt advisor. DNB Markets, Pangea Property Partners and SpareBank 1 Markets acted as joint managers and bookrunners in the equity capital issue. Pangea Property Partners is the company’s financial advisor, Ro Sommernes is legal advisor and Storm Communications is communications advisor for Aurora Eiendom.
IPO plans
Aurora has major growth ambitions and is planning to go public on the Euronext Growth segment of the Oslo stock market towards the end of the year. In addition to mr. Stordalen, Aurora's managers/owners include renowned retail experts such as Lars Løseth of Alti Forvaltning, one of Norway’s most experienced shopping centre owners, but also Norgesgruppen-owner Johan Johannson, Marius Varner of the Varner Group, Christian Ringnes from Eiendomsspar and NREP, which is the largest real estate fund in the Nordic region.
‘We go against the tide and invest in something that few others dare. Our goal is that Aurora Eiendom becomes one of the leading chains of shopping centres in Norway, and eventually also in the Nordic region. This is the beginning of a new adventure,’ commented Løseth, who will lead the firm going forward as CEO. He has previously built the Amfi shopping centre chain and the Alti Forvaltning management arm which was established in 2018.
As part of the deal, Aurora Eiendom is also buying a 50% stake in Lars Løseth’s company Alti Forvaltning asset management firm, which from now on will manage and develop Aurora’s shopping centres, in addition to the 26 shopping centres Alti already has under management in Norway.
‘The shopping habits of the future are neither online shopping nor physical stores, it is a combination in a well-functioning interplay. Remember that humans are social beings that want to meet friends and family, consult with product experts or see and try products before we buy them,’ said Lars Ove Løseth.
