Henderson Global Investors' c. £12.4 billion (approx. 15.3 billion) property business, on behalf of its German joint venture - Warburg Henderson, has acquired two shopping centers in France for a total amount of c. 151 million.
It has acquired Grand Quétigny Shopping Gallery in Quétigny, Dijon (Burgundy) as well as Ile Napoléon in Mulhouse-Illzach (Alsace). Both assets are located in established retail locations and increase Henderson's retail portfolio in France by over 23,000 m². Both assets were acquired from Klepierre.
Grand Quétigny Shopping Gallery is located in a dominant retail location within the Dijon region. Dijon is the capital of the Burgundy region and has a population of c.150,000. The Shopping Gallery has a catchment of c. 331,000 within a 30 minute drive time. Its accessibility is further increased with the tram line link to the centre of Dijon completed in September 2012.
It is fully let and provides for c. 12,000 m² across 66 shops, restaurants and cafés with a diversified tenant mix including Intersport, Sephora, Armand Thiery and Celio. It adjoins a Carrefour Hypermarket with an additional 15,700 m² retail space although this was not part of the acquisition. It has been acquired on behalf of two pan-European Warburg Henderson Funds.
Ile Napoléon is located in an established regional retail zone within the dominant suburb centre of Mulhouse. Mulhouse is the largest city in the French Department "Haut-Rhin" and the second largest city in Alsace with a population of 280,000.
It benefits from excellent proximity and direct access to the motorway. Its catchment area is c. 500,000 within a 30 minute drive time due to its close proximity to Germany and Switzerland. It comprises 8,000 m² with 52 tenants, including Maison du Monde, Sephora and Camieu. The acquisition also comprises a retail warehouse with 2,516 m² total floor space that is let to toy retailer Toys'R'Us. It was acquired for the Warburg - Henderson KOOP Fund.
Ara Adjennian, Retail Director at Henderson Property in France said: "We are delighted to acquire these two assets, especially considering the current market where the supply of large shopping centers in France is extremely tight. The acquisitions prove that with the right market access it is possible to acquire attractive pan-European stock despite a challenging market environment.
"It demonstrates Henderson's local experience and proven access to stock. A lot of investors have narrowed their focus to main cities such as Paris. However, we believe that especially in the case of retail investments, there is value to be found from dominant assets with in mid-size cities with optimum catchment areas."
"We now look forward to utilizing our specialist retail asset management expertise and tenant relationships in order to drive further value for our clients" added Thibault Ancely, Head of Henderson Property France: "These acquisitions demonstrate the confidence put by our investors in this asset class in France, in line with the recent publication from our Research department highlighting the solid fundamentals of shopping centers in France."
Henderson was advised by Wargny-Katz, Ashurst, Gide, CBRE and Feral. The sellers were advised by White & Case and Etude Attal & associés.
Source: Henderson
