MADRID, Spain—Klépierre has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of retail asset Plenilunio from an entity 100% indirectly owned by the Orion European Real Estate Fund III.

Pleniliunio is a leading 70,000 sq.m. (753,400 square feet) shopping center located in Madrid. With a broad and current fashion offer, high quality architecture and a prime location, Plenilunio is one of the major shopping center in the region around Madrid where Klépierre already owns two of the most prominent shopping malls: La Gavia (Southeast Madrid) and Principe Pio (Madrid center). This acquisition complements Klépierre's existing retail platform in Spain and enhances its Spanish portfolio profile. This investment is consistent with the strategy to focus investments on leading retail assets in the most growing regions of Continental Europe. The selling entity is a real estate fund sponsored by Orion Capital Managers.

Plenilunio has established itself as the dominant urban retail destination for the eastern part of Madrid.

Opened in 2006 and strategically located 11 km east of the city center of Madrid – Europe's third largest city – Plenilunio welcomes 10.5 million visitors annually. This shopping destination addresses retail demand of a large and affluent catchment area of 1.5 million inhabitants within a 15-minute drive. At the crossroads of busy motorways—one going to Barcelona and the other coming from the Madrid Barajas International airport—it enjoys very good visibility from Madrid's major ring roads.

In addition, there are several bus routes connecting Plenilunio to Madrid's city center and its surrounding residential areas. Population within its catchment area is dense and growing, with 14,000 new residential housing units being built. The purchasing power within the area is 30% above the Spanish national average, with 33% of households in the highest income bracket.

The well-established and comprehensive retail offer features the best international fashion retailers.

With a 99.3% financial occupancy rate as of December 2014, Plenilunio delivers strong growth, with retailer sales up by 15% in 2014 compared to the previous year. It brings together a large and updated fashion offer as well as a top supermarket within a space of high architectural quality. The shopping mall extends over 70,000 sq.m. GLA on 3 levels, with a comprehensive retail offer of 230 shops:

§? In May 2014, Primark extended its floor area to 6,700 sq.m. becoming the largest Primark store in Spain.

§? Inditex's main brands have all opened stores: Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius and Zara Home1 Plenilunio won the ICSCWorld's Best Shopping Center award in 2007.

§? Other main anchors include Mercadona – one of their best units trading in Spain -, H&M, Mango, Desigual, C&A, Cortefiel, Mediamarkt, Sfera, Yelmo cinema.

This acquisition enhances Klépierre's exposure in Spain, with more than 80% of the portfolio value coming from five leading shopping centers – the three aforementioned in Madrid Meridiano (Tenerife) and Mare Magnum (Barcelona) – confirming the group's position as a key partner for retailers entering or expanding in the country.

Following this transaction, Klépierre gains significant scale in this attractive region: the

Group's portfolio value2 in Spain will total $1.48 billion (1.4B Euros).

Plenilunio will add approximately $22 million (21M euros) of annual gross income to Klépierre. The Group has identified a number of leasing and property management actions that will further increase Plenilunio's cashflows generation and accelerate its differentiation.

The price is based on a gross asset value of $397million (375M euros). With a liquidity position of 2.7 billion euros at year-end 2014, Klépierre plans to finance this investment via its own funds but may also consider mortgage financing for a limited part. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of March 2015 under the SOCIMI regime.

The vendor is an entity 100% indirectly owned by the Orion European Real Estate Fund III C.V, a fund sponsored by Orion Capital Managers. Its advisor for this transaction was Cushman and Wakefield.

A leading shopping center property company in Europe, Klépierre combines development, rental, property, and asset management skills. Its portfolio is valued at $22.2 billion (21B euros) on December 31, 2014, including on a proforma basis, the acquisition of Corio in January 2015, and essentially comprises large shopping centers in 16 countries of Continental Europe.

Klépierre is a French REIT (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris.

 

 

 

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David Phillips

David Phillips is a Chicago-based freelance writer and consultant with more than 20 years experience in business and community news. He also has extensive reporting experience in the food manufacturing industry for national trade publications.