VIA Outlets JV acquires European portfolio for €121m

The VIA Outlets joint venture has acquired a three-asset European portfolio for €121 mln, reflecting an initial yield of 8%.

The joint venture consists of UK REIT Hammerson, Dutch pension fund asset manager APG and European retail asset manager Meyer Bergman. The vendor of the Freeport portfolio was private equity investor, The Carlyle Group.

The three assets are Alcochete in Portugal, Kungsbacka in Sweden and Excalibur in the Czech Republic.

Hammerson CEO David Atkins said: 'This acquisition and the development and asset management opportunity at Alcochete in particular plays to VIA’s strengths. The partners’ strong track records, access to brands and retail knowledge puts VIA Outlets in a strong position to take advantage of Europe’s fragmented outlet centre market.'

Hammerson owns a 47% interest in VIA Outlets and the newly purchased properties and will contribute €57mln towards this acquisition.

Alcochete is situated near Lisbon and comprises over 55,700 m2 of retail space, with over 170 stores including brands such as Diesel, Burberry, Carolina Herrera and Armani. It is the dominant retail factory outlet centre in the region and in 2014 will generate an expected sales density of almost €3,000 per m2.

Alcochete accounts for the bulk of the purchase price and has the potential to deliver increased performance, according to Hammerson.

Kungsbacka is a 20-minute drive to the south of Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city. The 16,000 m2 outlet includes retailers such as Nike and Hugo Boss and the prosperous Kungsbacka region has the highest level of average income in western Sweden. The final outlet in the portfolio, Excalibur, is located in the Czech Republic, near the Austrian border. With 21,000 m2 of retail space, the scheme is currently dominated by sports brands.

Since the creation of VIA Outlets, which initially acquired Batavia Stad in Amsterdam and Fashion Arena in Prague, the partnership has invested over €300 mln to create a portfolio of over 140,000 m2 of retail space and in excess of 500 stores. Hammerson has invested €103 mln in VIA Outlets and the blended initial yield of the centres purchased to date is 8%.

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