Union Investment and Generali Real Estate have signed the agreement to acquire the Puerto Venecia shopping resort in Zaragoza as part of a 50% -50% joint venture. With around 19 million visitors a year, Puerto Venecia is one of the top 5 shopping destinations in Spain. The components of the transaction are a shopping centre with 193 shops and a retail park. The total rental area amounts to around 120,000m².
The vendors are intu and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, who held the property in a 50%-50% joint venture. The sales price will be around €475m. Union Investment will acquire its 50% share for the open-ended real estate fund, Unilmmo: Deutschland. Generali Real Estate will acquire its 50% on behalf of Generali Shopping Center Fund SCS.
“Puerto Venecia is a shopping area with a high leisure value and a correspondingly high attraction factor for the people in the Aragonia region. It is by far the leading shopping destination in this region and therefore fits perfectly with our investment strategy, which focuses on best performing shopping centres and well-structured retail parks,” said Henrike Waldburg, Head of Investment Management Retail at Union Investment Real Estate.
”This is the first investment of our pan-European Shopping Center Fund, launched in May 2019 and supported by our dedicated boutique Axis with a precise strategy of cherry-picking of prime retail in Europe,” said Aldo Mazzocco, CEO at Generali Real Estate.
Matthew Roberts, chief executive of intu, commented: “We are pleased to have successfully concluded this transaction and, as previously discussed, are at advanced stages of negotiations on the disposal of intu Asturias in Northern Spain. As we announced at the interim results in July, our number one priority is fixing the balance sheet which includes creating liquidity through disposals.”
