257
257

Unibail, Klépierre, TH Vie For Plenilunio Retail Park

17/12/2014 – Expansion

The sale of the Plenilunio shopping mall in Madrid has entered in the final stretch. After a month of considering bids, U.S. fund Orion gave priority to three offers.

The establishment invoked vivid interest among large funds looking to buy a piece of the Spanish real estate for themselves. Finally, the winner will be chosen from among three finalists: fund manager Tiaa Henderson (TH), French-Dutch giant Unibail Rodamco and the Klépierre group. The last one closed jointly 127 retail units in Spain, France and Italy at the end of 2013.

Each of the bids is said to oscillate around 330 million euros.

The three-storey shopping center has a 220.000 square meter area, including a 70.000 sqm gross lettable space (GLA). Moreover, the deal includes more than 2.500 parking spaces, of which 2.000 are found underground. According to sources from the industry, 200 shops inside the establishment are 98% occupied.

The sale of the Plenilunio will be the deal of the year, beating the current top 3 transactions: 260 million euros paid for the Marineda mall in La Coruña by Merlin Properties, the 232 million amount which TH put for the Islazul retail park in Madrid and the volume of 153 million transferred for the Boulevard, Vitoria, by ING.

Orion’s goal is to close the operation before the year ends but the chances are the process will be prolonged until the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Currently, the U.S. fund manages the unit through Orion Columba, prepared to become listed as a Socimi (Spanish counterpart of a REIT vehicle).

As Deloitte Real Estate reported, in the eleven months from January to November, almost 30 shopping centers have changed hands, involving a total amount of nearly 1.63 billion euros.

Opened in 2006, the Plenilunio was developed by Riofisa (later on bought out by Colonial). In September 2005, it was purchased by Banco Santander for 275 million euros. In 2009, the bank sold the property to Orion for 235 million euros.

In spite of the disposal of the Plenilunio, Orion still owns the Puerto Venecia, Zaragoza, Spain’s biggest shopping mall. Originally shared fifty-fifty with British Land, the fund bought its partner’s share in October 2013 for 144.5 million euros.

 

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE