Aareal Bank AG has arranged a €128m top-up facility for Lighthouse Properties plc, allowing the JSE-listed mall investor to bring two newly acquired Spanish shopping centres onto the same financing platform as its existing Nexus Portfolio. The facility closed on 9 July 2026, taking the bank's total exposure to the portfolio to €334m, up from an existing loan of €206m.
The Nexus Portfolio previously comprised three malls in Cartagena, Girona and Madrid. The top-up brings in Torrecardenas, a 61,238 m² retail park and two-level mall in Almeria built in 2018 and acquired by Lighthouse in 2022, and Alcala Magna, a 32,743 m² in-town mall in the Madrid suburbs that was refurbished in 2019 and acquired in 2025. Both centres count Primark, Zara, Leroy Merlin and Bershka among their anchor tenants.
With the addition, the Nexus Portfolio now spans five prominent malls across Spain, H2O in Madrid, Espai Girones in Girona, Espacio Mediterraneo in Cartagena, Torrecardenas in Almeria and Alcala Magna in Madrid, all certified BREEAM "Very Good" or "Excellent". The financing qualifies as a 100% Green Loan, reinforcing both the portfolio's sustainability credentials and Aareal Bank's positioning in ESG-linked retail lending.
"This transaction demonstrates the quality of our partnership with Lighthouse Properties and our continued confidence in high-quality, ESG-compliant retail assets in Spain," said Martin Vest, Managing Director Euro Hub at Aareal Bank. "By expanding the Nexus Portfolio financing, we are supporting a well-diversified portfolio of prominent retail destinations with strong tenant demand."
"We are pleased to further expand our relationship with Aareal Bank through this refinancing," said Dawie Swarts, Chief Financial Officer of Lighthouse Properties plc. "The facility consolidates our leading Spanish malls under a single financing platform, enhancing operational and financial flexibility while reinforcing the strength of our portfolio. The transaction reflects the quality of our assets, the resilience of our cash flows and our disciplined approach to capital management."
The refinancing lands as institutional appetite for Spanish shopping centres accelerates: retail investment volume in Spain topped €1.6bn in the first half of 2026, up 3% year-on-year, with shopping centres alone drawing more than €800m as prime yields compress toward 6.25%. For investors tracking capital flows, the deal is also a reminder that Lighthouse, domiciled in Malta and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is channelling international capital into a consolidated, single-platform Spanish retail structure, a model other cross-border landlords refinancing multi-asset portfolios may look to replicate. Aareal Bank acted as arranger, facility agent and security agent on the transaction, with Cuatrecasas providing legal advice and Knight Frank acting as valuation adviser.
People mentioned:
- Martin Vest - Managing Director, Euro Hub, Aareal Bank AG
- Dawie Swarts - Chief Financial Officer, Lighthouse Properties plc
Image Source: AI-generated - for illustrative purposes only.
Companies mentioned:
- Aareal Bank AG - arranger, facility agent and security agent
- Lighthouse Properties plc - borrower and portfolio owner
- Cuatrecasas - legal adviser
- Knight Frank - valuation adviser
- Primark - anchor tenant
- Zara - anchor tenant
- Leroy Merlin - anchor tenant
- Bershka - anchor tenant
