Aberdeen Property Investors has announced that one of its pan-European funds, Aberdeen European Balanced Property Fund (SICAV), has made a second retail investment in Belgium. The Fund has acquired the shares of Zilverpand NV in Brugge, Belgium owning the Zilverpand shopping center, from Vastgoed-beleggingsmaatschappij APF IV NV and Zilverpand BV. Cushman & Wakefield acted on behalf of the vendor.
The Zilverpand Shopping Centre, located in the center of Brugge, Belgium, consists of 25 units, with a total rental area of 4,353 m². It is fully let to tenants like Essenza, State of Art, Timberland, McGregor and Tommy Hilfiger.
Nico Tates, Fund Manager of the Aberdeen European Balanced Property Fund, said, "We are very pleased to have increased our allocation to the Belgian retail sector with the acquisition of this good quality shopping center in Brugge. Our intention is to make further investments like this in Belgium, France and the Netherlands."
The European Balanced Property Fund is currently an active buyer in the Benelux area. This latest investment follows the acquisition in October of a Trade Market/ B2B property in Bleiswijk, The Netherlands from TCN Property Projects B.V. The tenant in that property was Trends & Trade Bleiswijk BV, which targets B2B-clients and is a subsidiary of TCN Property Projects. The total rental area was 19,615 m².
Nico Tates commented on the acquisition: "The Dutch market offers attractive opportunities in terms of capital values and rental growth. We are very pleased with this acquisition as it provides the Fund with attractive yields in combination with a strong tenant and a long lease."
Source: Aberdeen
