German fund manager Union Investment has purchased the Mercado shopping centre in Nuremberg for an undisclosed sum from Credit Suisse's open-ended fund CS Euroreal.
Located on Äußere Bayreuther Strasse and comprising 80 stores, Mercado is the third shopping centre from the Melody portfolio which Union has added to the holdings of its Unilmmo: Europa fund.
'The shopping facilities at Mercado primarily meet the daily needs of people living in the local catchment area,' commented Henrike Waldburg, head of Retail Investment Management at Union Investment. 'The property is very well positioned in northern Nuremberg to fulfil this function. Accordingly, the acquisition is a good fit with our broad-based retail portfolio.'
The property was opened in 2003 and completely refurbished and restructured between 2013 and 2016. Offering 43,500 m2 of rental space, the shopping centre currently attracts some five million customers a year.
'We are pleased that the last transaction relating to the Melody portfolio was successfully concluded before our mandate to manage CS Euroreal expired on 30 April 2017. Since the suspension of redemptions in May 2010, we have now finalised 90 property sales totalling almost €5.5 bn,' said Karl-Joseph Schneiders, managing director of Creid Suisse Asset Management Immobilien KAG.
Union Investment was advised on the transaction by CMS and JLL; the real estate arm of Credit Suisse was advised by Eastdil Secured and iMallinvest.
