Intu Properties acquires Puerto Venecia shopping center in Zaragoza, Spain for €451 mln (ES)

Intu Properties announces that it has exchanged contracts with an entity indirectly fully owned by the Orion European Real Estate Fund III C.V. (a fund managed by Orion Capital Managers) to acquire Puerto Venecia shopping center and retail park in Zaragoza, Spain for €451 mln.
This represents a net initial yield of 5.0% based on net rental income of €22.4 mln. Eurofund, our development partner in Spain, was closely involved in the original development of this award winning center which opened in 2008 (retail park) and 2012 (shopping center). A €225 mln bridging loan has been obtained from HSBC, which Intu can exchange for a five year term loan secured on the asset, with the all-in cost of debt estimated to be around 3.5%. The balance of the consideration will be met from Intu’s existing resources. The acquisition, which is scheduled to complete in January 2015, is expected to be earnings accretive.
Intu, in partnership with Eurofund, has options on four development sites in Malaga, Valencia, Palma and Vigo. The Puerto Venecia acquisition substantially strengthens Intu’s market position in Spain, ahead of embarking on the first of these projects which is likely to be the Malaga site.
David Fischel, Chief Executive of Intu, commented: “The acquisition of the Puerto Venecia shopping center following last year’s successful acquisition of Parque Principado, Oviedo, is another great addition for the Group. The transaction substantially accelerates our activities in Spain, which is a country where we see major opportunities for the type of genuinely regional destination center in which the Group specializes, like intu Trafford Centre in the UK. Puerto Venecia represents such an asset, with an attractive combination of retail, restaurants and leisure. The center is seeing strong growth in footfall and retailer sales from key names and provides an excellent template for the future development of sites we have under option, such as in Malaga where we expect to move the project forward significantly in 2015.”
Source: intu