Lar España Sells 2 Out-of-Town Stores in Pamplona to AEW for €11.5M

3 August 2018 – Eje Prime

Lar España is continuing its selling spree. The Spanish Socimi has divested two out-of-town stores in the Parque Galaria Retail Park in Pamplona for €11.5 million. The buyer is the company Fructiregions Europe, owned by the fund AEW, which has acquired a gross leasable area (GLA) of 4,108 m2, according to a statement filed by Lar with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

With this operation, the Socimi is strengthening its divestment and asset rotation plan, which it currently has underway and which has allowed it to raise up to €276.5 million to “focus its efforts on strategic commercial assets”, according to explanations from the company.

For the assets sold in Pamplona, Lar España has managed to obtain profits of 37% with respect to the €8.4 million that it paid for them in July 2015. In total, the two out-of-town stores occupy a gross leasable area (GLA) of 4,108 m2.

As well as divesting its non-strategic assets, Lar España has launched a three-year plan that includes the purchase of strategic commercial assets, such as the deal it carried out recently with the Rivas Futura Retail Park (Madrid), which it acquired for €62 million, and the Abadía Shopping Arcade (Toledo), which it purchased for €14 million.

In total, the Socimi has funding to invest €247 million in commercial developments. Examples include Palmas Altas in Sevilla, which will open its doors in 2019, and for whose construction the company has raised almost €100 million in bank financing; and Vidanova Parc, in Sagunto (Valencia), which recently debuted its first phase. Moreover, Lar España is going to spend €49 million on the renovation of retail assets that it holds in its portfolio.

After divesting its logistics portfolio a few weeks ago, for which the fund Blackstone paid €120 million, Lar España now has 18 real estate assets in its portfolio worth €1,401.5 million, of which €1,136.5 million correspond to shopping centres, equivalent to 81% of the total. 6% of the portfolio comprises office buildings, worth €85 million, and the remaining 13% belongs to the residential market, where the company has €180 million in developments under construction.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake