The South African fund Hystead successfully completed the acquisition of The Mall, one of the largest shopping centres in Bulgaria, located in the capital city Sofia.
The acquisition, upwards of €156m, represents the fourth investment in the region by Hystead Limited, a joint venture between Hyprop Investments and Homestead Limited, who previously acquired the Delta City shopping centres in Podgorica and Belgrade alongside Skopje City Mall in Macedonia at the end of 2016.
Situated on Tsarigradsko Shosse, the main boulevard linking the centre of the city with a number of large residential neighbourhoods, the airport and the regional highway network, The Mall was developed in 2010 and extends to over 52,000 m². It is anchored by Inditex Group, P&C, H&M and Arena cinema and benefits from over 130,000 m² of offices in its immediate proximity. Given its prime location, prestige tenant mix and occupancy standing at 99%, The Mall is considered to be the premier shopping destination in the city.
Uros Grujic, head of Capital Markets for South East Europe, JLL, commented: “Another retail acquisition of this volume represents a continuation of the strategy of the largest South African REITs to invest in dominant retail opportunities across the SEE region and CEE in general. The attractiveness of the opportunities is additionally fuelled by improvements in the financial markets, with Bulgaria in particular witnessing a softening on debt requirements for investors. With this in mind we expect further interest from institutional investors acquiring in the region, especially in acquiring income-producing assets across the retail sector, but also spreading onto office sector, with two large office deals expected to close by year-end.”
With JLL’s Capital Markets team in Belgrade advising on the acquisition of The Mall, JLL remains the leading investment advisor in the SEE region with total transaction volume now standing in excess of €800m over the past 24 months.
