Portuguese shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra and Slovakian real estate developer Peter Korbacka have acquired three malls in Spain for a total €485 mln.
The two parties have formed a joint venture for the transaction, in which Peter Korbacka will hold 87.5%, with Sonae Sierra owning the remaining 12.5% and providing all the management services.
The three centres are GranCasa in Zaragoza, Valle Real in Camargo and Max Center in Barakaldo. The malls were owned on a 50-50 basis by the Sierra Fund, an investment fund managed by Sonae Sierra, and CBRE Retail Property Fund Iberica, a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors, and were managed by Sonae Sierra.
The joint venture is in line with Sonae Sierra’s strategy of partnering with major international investors and operating partners in order to redevelop the acquired properties and create value for investors.
Commenting on the transaction, Peter Korbacka said: ‘Spain is one of the most solid markets in the real estate sector within Europe. We are delighted to acquire a portfolio of consolidated and dominant shopping centres in three of the largest and wealthiest cities in Northern Spain. In addition, having a partner like Sonae Sierra, gives us great confidence on the success of this opportunity.’
Pedro Caupers, CIO and board director at Sonae Sierra, said: ‘We believe this new partnership will mark a new future for these three shopping centres in Spain, which will face important renovation investments and tenant-mix improvements, to bring top-quality customer experience and create value for the stakeholders. In addition, we trust this new partnership will be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship, that could be extended to new projects, either in Spain or in other European countries.’
CBRE Global Investors said the disposal of GranCasa, Max Center and Valle Real was in line with the strategy of the CBRE Retail Property Fund Iberica to optimize the weighting of its portfolio with a focus on core assets. ‘We are very pleased with the outcome of this transaction and the returns achieved for our investors after years of active asset management of all three shopping centres,’ said Antonio Simontalero, fund manager of CBRE RPFI and country manager for Iberia at CBRE GI.
JLL, CBRE, Deloitte, Mace and Pérez-Llorca advised Sierra Fund and CBRE Global Investors, while Uría Menéndez, KPMG and Hill International acted for Sonae Sierra and Peter Korbacka.
