Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has sold Polygone Riviera to Frey for €272 mln, after spending circa €350 mln developing the mall near Cannes.
The sale of the eight-year-old, open-air shopping centre, which will complete during Q4 2023, is the largest transaction announced in the last week.
Frey’s chairman and CEO Antoine Frey, said: ‘Frey is pursuing its growth strategy with the aim of becoming the European leader in sustainable retail. This strategy has contributed to create a property company with a unique portfolio… Polygone Riviera is a major site in France comprising all the fundamentals we value at Frey.’
The centre has 130 brands, 77,100 m2 of commercial space and was opened by Unibail-Rodamco in 2015. URW is selling assets to boost its balance sheet and said the disposal of Polygone Riviera means the company has secured €3.6 bn (90%) of its current €4 bn Europe asset sale programme.
With values in flux, fewer successful vendors are releasing sales prices. The next biggest deal with a reported price this week was Grosvenor’s sale of a mid-ticket asset, 10 Ebury Bridge Road, in London. La Francaise REM picked up the Belgravia HQ of oil company ENI for £55 mln after Grosvenor had put it on the market quoting £60 mln.
Non-bank lenders were busy, and once again, logistics, hotels and residential assets were favourites for attracting debt.
Logistics specialist Tritax Big Box announced it had replaced its existing revolving credit facility with a new sustainability-linked RCF, providing £500 mln and an additional £200 mln accordion option. The package from a syndicate of nine international banks was put together by Lazards and the opening margin of 120 basis points will reduce slightly if the REIT meets agreed KPIs.
We also track this week’s new assets up for sale and two funds raising equity.
