Klépierre has announced that Steen & Strøm, its 56.1% controlled Scandinavian subsidiary, has signed a sale and purchase agreement, jointly with Entra, to acquire Oslo City, a retail and office complex located in the heart of Norway’s capital city, from DNB. The Oslo City shopping centre generates among the highest retailer sales per m² in Scandinavia and attracts more than 10 million visitors a year.
The Oslo City building covers 33,000m² of retail space and 34,000m² of office space and offers 340 parking spaces. Featuring 67 shops and 8 mid-size units, retailers include brands such as H&M, Superdry, Victoria’s Secret, M.A.C, Apple, Clas Ohlson, Cubus, KappAhl and Starbucks. It also hosts Vinmomopolet and a Meny supermarket.
The building is located in Oslo’s main transportation hub in the immediate vicinity of the Bjorvika office district, Oslo’s new Central Business District, very close to Karl Johans gate, Oslo’s main pedestrian retail street. It has a dedicated subway station and light rail stops, with large transportation networks currently being built, reinforcing Oslo City’s strategic location.
Steen & Strøm and Entra are jointly buying this asset from DNB, Norways largest financial services group. Both partners will acquire the holding company that owns Oslo City for a total of €528m¹. Steen & Strøm will fully own the shopping centre and half of the parking spaces for a net investment of €344m¹ (3.3 billion NOK). Entra will own the office premises and the other half of the parking spaces.
Norway has the highest density of shopping centres (measured in m²) per capita, with close to 500 shopping centres and a population of 5 million inhabitants. The Oslo urban area counts more than 1 million inhabitants with the fastest growing demographic growth forecast. In addition, its GDP per capita is one of the highest in Norway, while its unemployment rate is among the lowest in Europe.
¹ Based on the NOK/EUR exchange rate of 9.47 as of December 10, 2015 – excluding transaction costs
