LaSalle Investment Management has made its first acquisition in Central Europe on behalf of Encore+, with the purchase of a retail park in Poland.
Futura Retail Park in Wroclaw, Poland’s second most affluent city, has been purchased from IRUS FUND for just over €27m. The acquisition demonstrates LaSalle’s faith in the prospects for Poland and the rest of the CE region, as well as its growing commitment to the overall European retail sector.
The retail park, anchored by Carrefour and managed by NEINVER, is a 22 unit, 20,208m² scheme on the outskirts of Wroclaw. It is located close to the airport and ring-road, making it easily accessible by bus or car. The retail park boasts 1,200 parking places and a footfall of more than 1.5 million visitors.
Poland’s GDP growth is forecast to exceed that of many of its neighbours over the next few years, and LaSalle expects the country, along with the Czech Republic, to be a continued focus in the future.
Encore+ is a diversified, Continental European real estate fund which aims to deliver stable and growing income alongside long-term capital appreciation, from an actively-managed portfolio, in a monthly dealt open-ended fund structure. The fund has been successfully co-managed by LaSalle Investment Management and Aviva Investors for almost 10 years. Encore+ has consistently belonged to the three best-performing funds by total return (on three year rolling basis) in the Pan European Property Funds Balanced Funds Index (PEPFI) and has consistently delivered a strong distribution yield of over 5% for its investors.
Raised by NEINVER in 2007, IRUS European Retail Property Fund is a sector-specific fund focusing solely on outlet centres. NEINVER is responsible for fund management, property acquisitions and disposals and asset management. Currently, the fund has a total committed equity of €480m. The fund's portfolio comprises 11 outlet schemes located throughout Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Poland with a total GLA of 265,695m² and an appraised value of € 1.15bn.
Chris Zeuner, head of Central Europe at LaSalle Investment Management, said: “In the current economic environment, investors naturally need to seek out markets which provide the appropriate combination of risk and return to meet their requirements. Poland will therefore be one market they need to consider. The Futura Retail Park is located in one of the wealthiest regions in Poland, one which gives good prospects for a strong return on investment.”
Andy Watson, chief investment officer for Continental Europe at LaSalle Investment Management, said: “This acquisition demonstrates our strategy of investing in stable, well-consolidated shopping centres across the continent. Central Europe is a relatively new market for LaSalle, but we believe this is an exciting region, and we are convinced that there are opportunities in retail in Poland and elsewhere that will support the aims and strategies of our clients.”
Gil Bar, fund manager for Encore+ at Aviva Investors, said: “This acquisition adds another country to the Encore+ fund’s diversified exposure across Continental Europe. We see this as an excellent opportunity to capture both cyclical and structural growth and we continue to consider Poland as a good country for further investment.”
LaSalle was advised by Dentons, KPMG, Savills and JLL on the acquisition.
