Union Investment has finalised an agreement with Sonae Sierra and Foncière Euris/Rallye to become the new majority owner of the Alexa shopping centre in central Berlin. Each of the investors had a 50% share in the property and the Hamburg-based property fund manager paid EUR 316 mln to acquire a majority stake (91%) in the 180-unit shopping centre on Alexanderplatz. Sonae Sierra, which will continue to be responsible for centre management, intends to exclusively hold the remaining 9% in Alexa in the future.
Union Investment has finalised an agreement with Sonae Sierra and Foncière Euris/Rallye to become the new majority owner of the Alexa shopping centre in central Berlin. Each of the investors had a 50% share in the property and the Hamburg-based property fund manager paid EUR 316 mln to acquire a majority stake (91%) in the 180-unit shopping centre on Alexanderplatz. Sonae Sierra, which will continue to be responsible for centre management, intends to exclusively hold the remaining 9% in Alexa in the future.
The five-storey Alexa offers 43,000 m2 of retail space, 2,000 m2 for food outlets and 8,000 m2 of leisure space. The centre is fully let on long-term leases to major retailers including MediaMarkt, Edeka, H&M and Zara. The centre opened in autumn 2007 and with some 14 million visitors in 2009 is already a dominant factor in Berlin's retail market. 'Alexa is a sustainable investment in every sense of the word. Its location quality, attractive shopping environment and high income potential are a perfect fit with our long-term investment strategy for the retail segment,' said Frank Billand, member of the management board of Union Investment Real Estate. Jones Lang LaSalle advised Union Investment on this transaction.
'This agreement reflects the high quality of Alexa as well as our long-term business strategy of recycling capital for future growth while keeping a stake in the property and its management,' added Álvaro Portela, CEO of Sonae Sierra.
Alexa is being added to the portfolio of the UniImmo: Deutschland open-ended real estate fund. Union Investment also recently completed the acquisition of the Mercado centre in Hamburg's Altona district, providing the firm with a large-scale shopping centre in a city centre location. The company invested a total of over EUR 1.6 bn in property acquisitions last year, including some EUR 600 mln in the retail segment. This made Union Investment the biggest cross-border investor in Europe in 2009, according to PropertyEU's ranking of top dealmakers.
