Ivanhoé Cambridge is seeking to cash in on a Spanish retail investment, as Ireland's NAMA launches a huge loan portfolio sale amid controversy.
Canadian institutional investor Ivanhoé Cambridge has taken a major step in its programme to reduce its global real estate holdings by putting the Madrid Xanadú shopping centre up for sale. The asking price is believed to be €500 mln, which, if realised, would make it one of the largest single-asset shopping centre transactions ever in the booming Spanish real estate market.
But as the 152,000 m2 shopping centre is situated 29 kilometres outside downtown Madrid, some commentators have said it might not attract as much attention as Barcelona’s Diagonal Mar recently did. Northwood’s 87,000 m2 Diagonal Mar urban mall in the 22@ district of Barcelona received around 15 bids and was eventually sold to Deutsche Bank for €495 mln at the start of August, making it the largest shopping centre transaction in Spain in recent years. Sources said that Xanadú’s out-of-town position and diminished supremacy in the area might affect investor interest.
Meanwhile, Ireland's bad bank NAMA has kickstarted the highly anticipated sale of its €3-4 bn Project Gem real estate loan portfolio. 'I would expect the usual private equity players to be interested,' a source told PropertyEU during Expo Real in October. Nevertheless, the portfolio is expected to sell at a significant discount, according to those who track the market. It comprises mainly commercial properties in Ireland.
The announcement of the sale process in September comes at an awkward moment for NAMA. The agency faces criticism from a government watchdog as well as ongoing unproven allegations in relation to the sale of the Project Eagle portfolio of Northern Ireland property loans. (see comment on page 21).
Also in Ireland, Savills and Cushman & Wakefield have been instructed to sell two regional shopping centres – Navan Town Centre (€62 mln) and Fairgreen Shopping Centre (€12.5 mln) in Mulligar, reflecting a combined yield of 7.3%. BNP Paribas Real Estate, meanwhile, has begun marketing the four-asset Magellan portfolio for a guide price in excess of €49.5 mln. Ranging from prime offices at Hatch Street in Dublin city centre to a logistics and HQ building at Fonthill Business Park, the portfolio produces rental income of €2.4 mln per annum, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.70%.
