UBS fund makes core acquisition in Spain

UBS Asset Management has returned to Spain with the acquisition of the Urbil shopping centre in San Sebastian, Northern Spain.

A core real estate fund managed by UBS has bought the asset from CBRE Global Investors for €61 mln.

CBREGI, which owns €2.2 bn of assets in Spain, said the disposal is part of its asset rotation programme and added that it is looking for new investment opportunities in Spain.

Opened in May 2000, the scheme provides 34,750 m2 of space over 62 units, 11 restaurants, a 8-screen multiplex cinema and 2,533 parking spaces. The mall is anchored by an Eroski hypermarket.

The deal was brokered by agent Jones Lang LaSalle.

The transaction is believed to be one of the first core real estate acquisitions made in Spain by a foreign investor since the financial crisis. So far, international players have focused on opportunistic deals offering aggressive returns.

'The purchase of Urbil by a core fund shows that shopping centres are again an attractive investment for long-term institutions which exited Spain during the crisis,' commented Jose Manuel Llovet, director of Retail Capital Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle in Spain.