Italian investment manager Sorgente Group has signed an agreement to acquire a 21.77% stake in the Falck development area on the outskirts of Milan from owner Bizzi & Partners Development.
Italian investment manager Sorgente Group has signed an agreement to acquire a 21.77% stake in the Falck development area on the outskirts of Milan from owner Bizzi & Partners Development.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Sorgente Group will join forces with Bizzi & Partners Development to kick off the redevelopment of the site according to a masterplan designed by architect Renzo Piano.
In a statement, Sorgente said it has agreed to invest its own capital in the joint venture rather than funds from the investment vehicles it manages.
The project will involve the development of a number of commercial and residential buildings within a 70-hectare park, located near a hospital currently under construction.
'For Sorgente Group, whose business traditionally focuses on the purchase and management of trophy buildings, the creation of this 'new city' of over 1 million m2 is a great opportunity to bring our strategy further,' said Sorgente Group's CEO Valter Mainetti.
The development, which will take over a decade, is an indication of the confidence put by Sorgente in the recovery of the Italian real estate sector, he added.
A consortium of investors led by Italian businessman Davide Bizzi bought the Falck site in 2010 from Italian listed real estate developer Risanamento for a price of €405 mln.
The consortium was believed to include the Korean group Honua Investment Management, Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni, Le Copains' Bandiera Group and a group of banks including Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit.
