Norges Bank Investment Management and Sonae Sierra have formed a joint venture, which has signed an agreement to acquire eight shopping centres in Spain, comprising more than 250,000sq m of gross leasable area and a gross value of approximately €1.5bn.
The assets are Gran Plaza 2, Plaza Norte 2, Plaza Río 2, La Vaguada, Plaza Moraleja 2 and Plaza Loranca 2 in the Madrid region, Gran Vía 2 in Barcelona and Plaza Mar 2 in Alicante, all established shopping centres in urban catchments with strong purchasing power. The seller is La Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España.
The joint venture will also selectively consider further shopping centre opportunities in Iberia that fit its strategic and return profile.
Jayesh Patel, Co-Head of Europe, Real Estate at Norges Bank Investment Management, said: “This transaction grows our retail real estate exposure in Europe and aligns with our strategy of investing alongside specialist operators. We are pleased to partner with Sonae Sierra, who bring a strong platform and a long track record in Iberia and we look forward to working with their team.”
Sierra will be responsible for managing the portfolio and is separately acquiring 100 per cent of SCCE, which includes a team of over 130 people and currently manages the eight shopping centres in the portfolio and a further ten owned by third parties. Once this transaction completes Sierra will manage a total of 73 shopping centres across eight countries and record a total AuM of €8.5bn.
Luis Mota Duarte, Deputy CEO and Executive Director, Investment Management of Sonae Sierra, said: “Long-term partnerships with like-minded leading institutional investors, built on a full alignment of interests, trust and transparency, have been central to Sierra’s growth. NBIM is among the most respected of those investors, with an approach that matches our own and we are glad to be partnering with them. We also look forward to welcoming the SCCE team, who will further strengthen our operating platform in Spain.”
