Union Investment Real Estate is keen to buy a third shopping centre in France following the acquisition of its first two malls in the country in the past months.
Union Investment Real Estate is keen to buy a third shopping centre in France following the acquisition of its first two malls in the country in the past months.
'Along with Germany, France is our most important market and we are looking to expand our presence in the retail segment,' board member Karl-Joseph Hermanns-Engel told PropertyEU.
The German investor, which has been active in France since January this year through a dedicated Paris-based subsidiary, entered the French shopping centre market in July last year with the purchase of the Saint Martial mall in Limoges. The asset was sold by Unibail-Rodamco.
Earlier in 2011, it also bought an 80% stake in the OPCI vehicle holding the EUR 80 mln Géant shopping centre in Bordeaux.
Hermanns-Engel said the company is aggressively looking for new investments in the country but is constrained by a lack of supply. 'We are an equity investor and we have no problems securing financing for the acquisition but unfortunately there has not been much product coming to the market recently,' he said, adding that the company would be interested in retail, but also in logistics and hotels.
Union Investment Real Estate owns a EUR 5 bn shopping centre portfolio in Europe.
Looking forward, the company will continue to seek more diversification through investment in smaller assets and in regional cities, Hermanns-Engel added.
