Hammerson group snaps up Euro retail portfolio
Hammerson and its partners in VIA Outlets – APG, Meyer Bergman and Value Retail – are buying a portfolio of four European outlet shopping malls for €587m (£502m) – a 5.5% yield.
The shopping centres are located close to major cities in Germany, Portugal, Spain and Poland and the transaction takes the total size of the VIA Outlets portfolio to €1.1bn across 10 assets.
Hammerson and its partners in VIA Outlets – APG, Meyer Bergman and Value Retail – are buying a portfolio of four European outlet shopping malls for €587m (£502m) – a 5.5% yield.
The shopping centres are located close to major cities in Germany, Portugal, Spain and Poland and the transaction takes the total size of the VIA Outlets portfolio to €1.1bn across 10 assets.
Hammerson has a 47% interest in VIA Outlets and will pay a share of the acquisition funding of €170m (£145m), taking into account existing centre-level debt financing.
Hammerson’s planned £500m disposal programme is on track with £435m of sales already completed. Further disposals have been identified for 2017.
The largest outlet to be acquired is in Zweibrucken, Germany, at 300,000 sq ft with 114 tenants. It is located on the border between France, Germany and Luxembourg and connected by the main arterial roads in the region.
It was Germany’s first established retail outlet and includes Versace, Michael Kors, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Esprit.
Located close to Porto, Portugal, the 301,000 sq ft outlet in Vila Do Conde receives annual footfall of 4.3m and has 129 tenants. The acquired site has further adjacent development land. Brands trading at the outlet include Polo Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera.
The outlet in Spain, located north-east of Seville, covers 176,000 sq ft and has 65 shops with brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, Polo Ralph Lauren and Adidas.
The outlet in Wroclaw, Poland, is the only retail outlet in the western Poland region and includes 170,000 sq ft of retail space and 87 shops. The outlet houses brands such as Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas, Guess and Calzedonia and sits within a wider retail offer.
Timon Drakesmith, chief financial officer and managing director, premium outlets at Hammerson, said: “Well-positioned European outlets continue to deliver strong sales growth supported by an improving customer offer and increasing tourist numbers. Our capital recycling programme is tilting Hammerson’s portfolio towards faster-growth end-markets.”
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