Eurocommercial Properties has sold Chasse Sud retail park at Chasse-sur-Rhone in France to TwentyTwo Real Estate for €80m. Chasse Sud is a modern retail park comprising approximately 52,000m² including a 14,000m² Casino Geant hypermarket and a 5,000m² logistics warehouse. The scheme is located on the banks of the Rhone, between Lyon and Vienne, alongside the Autoroute du Soleil (A7), and has been most recently extended and redeveloped in 2013, adding a roster of tenants including Decathlon, Boulanger, C&A, Gemo, Bricomarche and Conforama.
This sale forms part of Eurocommercial’s disposal programme announced last year, which also included the sale of its city centre property in Grenoble (France) and its two other standalone retail parks located in Sweden, Moraberg outside Sodertalje and Bronsen in Norrkoping. These sales were completed in 2021, again at their latest book values. The sale proceeds from Chasse Sud were received today and are being used partly to fund the recent purchase from its joint venture partner, AXA, of their 50% share in Shopping Etrembieres in France, at a price of €45m and partly to improve the net financial position of the Group. Negotiations for further disposals are in progress and are expected to complete early next year.
Eurocommercial recently entered into sustainability-linked interest rate swap contracts with ABN AMRO Bank in order to partially hedge the interest rate risk related to the €100m sustainability-linked loans granted by the bank in April 2021. The loans are used to finance two shopping centres in Italy. These sustainability-linked interest rate swaps include incentive mechanisms for Eurocommercial as the fixed interest paying party, which are fully aligned with the sustainable performance indicators provided in the underlying loans. Eurocommercial has enjoyed a very long-standing relationship with ABN AMRO Bank, which are one of the few banks to offer sustainability-linked derivatives. These derivative transactions demonstrate Eurocommercial’s commitment to further integrate its ESG targets with its operating business.
