The group controlled by Olav Thon, the richest person in Norway, is acquiring two shopping centres from Nordic retail landlord Steen & Strøm.
The assets are the 49,600 m2 Åsane Storsenter in the Norwegian city of Bergen and Torp Köpcentrum, a 31,600 m2 shopping centre in Uddevalla, Sweden.
Steen & Strøm, the Nordic arm of the French-based European shopping centre REIT Klépierre, has agreed to sell the Åsane Storsenter based on a property value of SEK 1928 mln (€194 mln) and Torp Köpcentrum based on a valuation of SEK 1,285 mln (€129 mln).
Åsane Storsenter is owned jointly by Steen & Strøm (49.9%) and Norwegian insurer Livsforsikringsselskapet Nordea Liv Norge (50.1%) where both owners have agreed to divest their shares. Torp Köpcentrum is owned 100% by Steen & Strøm. Pangea Property Partners advised the seller.
Steen & Strøm said that the disposals were in line with its asset rotation strategy. Steen & Strøm recently acquired the shopping centre Oslo City, and the disposals are being carried out to strengthen the group's financial position, to help fund the development pipeline and for potential acquisitions in Scandinavia.
Steen & Strøm owns and operates 20 shopping centres in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The company is owned by Klépierre (56.1%) and Dutch pension asset manager APG (43.9%).
Olav Thon Group is owned by the Olav Thon Foundation and operates primarily in the property and hotel sectors. The property arm manages 104 shopping centres and 500 commercial properties. The hotel division owns about 9,300 rooms in 65 hotels in Norway.
