Mitiska REIM, the leading specialist investor in European convenience real estate, has announced the sale of five Belgian and five Portuguese retail parks to First Retail Partners, a newly established fund backed by Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, acting on behalf of its clients.
These retail park assets were originally developed or acquired on behalf of the FRI and FRI 2 funds and this sale marks the successful completion of Mitiska REIM’s development and initial value-creation programs for these assets. The new First Retail Partners fund has a gross asset value of around €280M and will be managed by Mitiska REIM and backed by Partners Group.
The five Belgian retail parks are recent development projects undertaken by Mitiska REIM and represent a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 77,500sq m. The portfolio includes the retail park Malinas in Mechelen which when opened became the most sustainable retail park in Belgium, in addition to Ninouter in Ninove, Parc de l’Europe in Wavre, La Couvinoise in Couvin, and Quartier Enée in Gembloux.
The five Portuguese retail parks represent a GLA of 105,500sq m and were acquired between 2017 and 2019. Located in the Portuguese cities of Villa Nova de Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarem and Alverca, these assets were actively managed by Mitiska REIM’s local team to unlock considerable value.
The retail parks are food-anchored by major supermarkets such as Lidl, Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Mercadona, Auchan or Pingo Doce, and have a strong and diversified tenant mix of national and international retail brands. In terms of sustainability, all have been awarded BREEAM certifications ranging from “Good” to “Excellent”.
