Wereldhave N.V. has reached agreement with the Finnish group Sponda Oy to acquire Shopping Center Itäkeskus in East-Helsinki. The investment amounts to EUR 322 mln, including costs of sale.
Itäkeskus is the largest covered shopping center of Scandinavia. It dates back to 1984 and has been expanded and renovated in 1992. A second expansion was finished in October 2001. Totaling more than 95,000 m², it offers 240 shops, 30 restaurants, diners and other catering outlets, 2 large department stores, 11,000 m² of office space and 3,000 covered parking places. Itäkeskus is fully rented out. Due to its size and service area (340,000 inhabitants), Itäkeskus has realized a prominent position. Turnover amounted to about EUR 282 mln in 2001.
Many public services are available. Underneath the shopping center is an underground station serving Helsinki city center. The annual number of visitors is therefore relatively high: 21 million. Also by car the shopping center is within easy reach. In its immediate vicinity a total of 4,500 parking spaces are available.
The acquisition by Wereldhave is in accordance with its strategy to refresh and diversify its portfolio. Through the acquisition investments in both the Eurozone and retail increased through a high-quality recently developed real estate project.
Net yield amounts to 7% and the transaction is financed through foreign capital (EUR 191.3 mln) and issuing 1.935.000 shares (EUR 130.7 mln). With this acquisition Wereldhave has passed the EUR 1 bln mark.
Wereldhave?s objectives are to spread its investments in Europe (75%) and the U.S. (25%). After the acquisition Wereldhave?s portfolio is spread throughout 8 countries: Belgium (10%), Finland (14%), France (15%), Hungary (<1%), Netherlands (15%), Spain (5%), UK (17%) and the US (23%).
Based on its portfolio and the recent acquisition, Wereldhave expects a clear improvement of its profit per share for 2002 (between 7%-12%).
(source: Wereldhave)
