St Martins Property, the UK-based property development and investment company, has agreed to buy Cevahir shopping centre in Istanbul for about EUR 750 mln. Cevahir, Europe's largest shopping centre, opened at the end of 2005. The six-storey mall has 320 units, which are let to national and international retailers, together with a 14-screen cinema, a bowling alley and a 'Disney Centre'.
St Martins Property, the UK-based property development and investment company, has agreed to buy Cevahir shopping centre in Istanbul for about EUR 750 mln. Cevahir, Europe's largest shopping centre, opened at the end of 2005. The six-storey mall has 320 units, which are let to national and international retailers, together with a 14-screen cinema, a bowling alley and a 'Disney Centre'.
St Martins said it originally signed a share purchase agreement in the summer with the Cevahir family, the developer and 50% owner of the centre. Through a public tender, St Martins has now secured the Municipality of Istanbul’s 50% stake to clinch the biggest single-asset deal in Europe in recent years. Pradera is to asset manage the centre on a five-year agreement.
'The acquisition of the Cevahir centre is a key deal for St Martins and after being relatively quiet for a number of years we are delighted to have secured it, particularly as it has taken a period of long and detailed negotiation to get to this stage. Through a number of new initiatives and active management, the target is to turn Cevahir into one of the most successful centres in the world,' said Nigel Brown, managing director of St Martins. Savills together with Stephenson Harwood advised St Martins on the centre and JLL advised Pradera.
