Listed European retail property fund Vastned said it is selling over EUR 60 mln in non-core retail property in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, mostly to private investors.
Listed European retail property fund Vastned said it is selling over EUR 60 mln in non-core retail property in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, mostly to private investors.
At the same time, Vastned is expanding its high street portfolio with the acquisition of Markt 27 in the southern Dutch city of Den Bosch for EUR 2.5 mln.
In the Netherlands, Vastned is selling retail park Roermond for EUR 43.8 mln, three assets in Nijmegen for EUR 4.1 mln and shopping centre De Wingerd in Capelle a/d IJssel for EUR 3.2 mln.
In France, Vastned has sold a retail warehouse in Seclin near Lille for EUR 3.2 mln, while in Belgium, retail warehouses in Andenne, Beaumont, and Mons were sold for EUR 9.3 mln.
On average, the properties were sold marginally below book value.
Cushman & Wakefield advised Vastned on the sale of retail park Roermond.
Vastned said the sales facilitate the further rollout of its strategy of focusing on high street shops and improving its loan-to-value.
Including these disposals, Vastned has sold EUR 140 mln in non-core retail property investments since the announcement of its updated strategy in September 2011, exceeding its EUR 90 mln target.
Taco de Groot, Vastned's CEO, commented: 'These transactions are fully in line with our strategy focused on the most popular shopping streets in the major cities: our 'Venues for Premium Shopping'. They take the share of high street shops in the total portfolio from 52% to 54%. We will roll out our strategy in the same pragmatic way, step by step, prioritising improving the quality of our portfolio.'
