Spanish outlet centre operator Neinver is understood to be up for sale with a price tag of more than €500 mln.
According to local press reports its owners, the Losantos family, which includes company chairman Jose Maria Losantos del Campo and CEO Daniel Losantos, have appointed Credit Suisse to look for potential buyers.
Outlet centres are proving one of the few bright spots in the retail sector with both McArthurGlen and Hammerson stepping up their commitment in recent months, for example.
McArthurGlen announced in November that it has allocated a further €1 bn to expand its portfolio.
Meanwhile, private equity giant Blackstone is taking advantage of interest in the asset type and has put its outlet centre portfolio in Italy on the market with Chinese group Sasseur reportedly among contenders.
Madrid-headquartered Neinver, which operates in Spain, Italy, Portugal, The Netherlands, Germany and France, was founded in 1969 and has specialised in developing, leasing and managing outlet centres.
The company’s portfolio includes 25 retail assets with a total area of more than 625,000 m2 of which 19 are outlet centres with a GLA of 319,000 m2.
The company has two proprietary brands – The Style Outlets and Factory – and has a joint venture with Nuveen, formerly known as TH Real
Estate. Known as The Neptune partnership, it was launched in 2014 and has 13 assets, five in Spain, five in Poland, two in Italy and one in France.
In September Neptune acquired a site in Amsterdam for the development of a new centre, due to open in autumn 2020. In a move that might now be regarded as focusing its portfolio, Neinver confirmed in December that it had completed the sale of a portfolio of 55 industrial and logistics properties to Blackstone for approximately €300 mln. The deal comprises 55 logistics properties totalling more than 500,000 m2.
Thirty seven of the properties belonged to Colver, the joint venture that Neinver had formed with Colony Capital in 2014. At the time, Neinver described the sale as ‘asset rotation’ and part of its growth strategy.
This article previously appeared in PropertyEU's sister publication, EuroProperty
