Slovak developer J&T Real Estate is on the verge of making its first foray in the Spanish market with the purchase of a portfolio of three shopping centres for some €500 mln.
J&T, with operations covering a number of sectors across CEE, is expected to close the purchase in the next few weeks after having outbid rival ECE Projektmanagement which offered around €450 mln earlier this year.
The Bratislava-based property group is believed to be paying around €500 mln for the portfolio, which includes the 78,000 m2 Gran Casa shopping centre in Zaragoza, the 45,000 m2 Valle Real retail complex in Santander and the 60,000 m2 Max Center in Bilbao.
PropertyEU reported back in March that landlords CBRE Global Investors and Sonae Sierra had put the assets for sale through brokers CBRE and C&W. The deal is understood to reflect a yield of around 5.45%. When completed, it is expected to represent Spain's largest shopping transaction of the year.
Under the terms initially agreed, Sonae Sierra will remain as asset manager and may take a minority stake in the portfolio. It is one of two major packages marketed in the country in 2018, with the other being the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield portfolio which went to South African-backed REIT Castellana Properties over the summer for around €460 mln, equating to a yield of 5.9%..
According to those who track the market, all three schemes acquired by J&T are good secondary assets offering a value-add angle to improve returns. ‘They are in good locations with no real competition but they are also a bit tired and would certainly benefit from some capex investment,’ said a market expert who wished to remain anonymous.
This article first appeared in EuroProperty, the weekly publication of PropertyEU.
