Fund managed by Commerz Real sells shopping centre portfolio to Blackstone

Commerz Real has sold three shopping centres in Spain and Portugal from one of its managed funds to the special purpose vehicle utilised by Blackstone. With assets under management totalling approximately 500 million euros and a total leasable area of 137,000 square metres it is one of the biggest European shopping centre transactions in recent years. The shopping malls formed the portfolio of a specialised fund issued in 2007 under Luxembourg investment law (CG malls europe). Confidentiality on the purchase price was agreed upon between the contractual parties.

“The markets in Spain and Portugal are recently recovering to a considerable degree, consumer demand is stable, and the three shopping centres are very well established,” says Dr. Eduardo Moran, the Management Board member of Commerz Real AG responsible for the transaction. “In view of a considerable interest in such properties on the part of investors, we have acted at a point in time that was ideal from a strategic stance.”

The portfolio encompasses the shopping centres Almada Forum and Forum Montijo in Lisbon/Portugal as well as the shopping centre Espacio León in León/Spain with a total of 506 shops. With an average occupancy rate of approximately 95 per cent the centres are virtually fully leased. They are visited annually by a total of 26.6 million customers and thus rank among the most heavily frequented malls in Portugal and Spain.

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