Real estate investment manager DEGI Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immobilienfonds mbH has acquired the Franciacorta Outlet Village in Rodengo Saiano near Brescia in Northern Italy for a total investment volume of around €204.2 million for its GRUNDWERT-FONDS.
The seller is a consortium comprising the development firms Gruppo Stilo and Craig Realty as well as the Italian financial investor Primavera. The equity capital for the acquisition comes directly from the successful sale of three of the five properties belonging to the Bodio Centre office complex in Milan. The proceeds of the sale were distributed 60% to GRUNDWERT-FONDS and 40% to DEGI INTERNATIONAL in proportion to their respective holdings in the Bodio Center.
"The swift succession of these two transactions reflects our proactive style of portfolio management. This enables us to achieve two goals: we exited from some of the office properties we acquired in 2003, with a sale price of €152 million to show a profit amounting to around €29 million, and with the completion of the deal, we increase the fund's weighting in properties abroad by 3.0% to 18.3% by reinvesting in the growth market of Italian retail", explains Bärbel Schomberg, Speaker of DEGI's Management Board. The weighting of retail in the GRUNDWERT-FONDS thus increases by 3.3% to reach 14.1%.
Franciacorta Outlet Village
Schomberg: premier league
The Outlet Centre is located 80 kilometres from Milan and Verona on the A4 motorway, the most important North Italian east-west connection. "Thanks to its size, its attractive tenant mix and its large catchment area, the Franciacorta Outlet Village plays in the premier league of the Italian retailing market", says Bärbel Schomberg. About 4 million consumers can reach the Outlet Centre in less than one hour's drive.
The approximately 150 shops, with prestigious tenants, particularly in the fashion sector, such as Levis, Nike, Benetton, Calvin Klein, Robe di Kappa or Guess, render Franciacorta also a major attraction for one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, the Italian Lakes.
An initial section of the Outlet Centre, featuring approximately 80 shop units and a total area of around 21,700 m², opened in July 2003. After these had been fully let, the second section was completed in December 2006, with a further 70 shops across 11,400 m² of rental space, of which the majority has already been let. A third phase, of 6,600 m² sales area is planned for 2008, at a cost of €41.5 million. Visitors to the center already enjoy the benefits of parking space for 3,000 cars.
Jones Lang LaSalle, DLA Piper and WTP Italia have advised DEGI on both the disposal and the acquisition.
Source: Allianz
