Belgium: Eurocommercial acquires the Le Grand Prés shopping centre for 256 million euros

Eurocommercial Properties doubles its presence in Belgium by acquiring the Les Grands Prés shopping centre in Mons (Wallonia) from Germany's Union Investment.

The consideration, for all the shares held by the outgoing owner, amounts to 265 million euros.

Les Grands Prés will be the second Belgian site, after Woluwe Shopping in Brussels (acquired in 2018), and the sixth most important site (a true flagship) of the Dutch multinational, listed on the Amsterdam and Milan stock exchanges.

Belgium becomes Eurocommercial's third market

The acquisition creates a more balanced geographical portfolio, making Belgium the group's third market in terms of portfolio value, after Italy, Sweden and France, countries with 8 centres each.

It should be remembered that this year Sweden moved up the ranking with the acquisition, in March, of Centro Avion in Umea, worth 110 million euros.

Located west of the city of Mons, 70 km from the capital, Les Grands Prés benefits from easy direct access to the E42 European route (which crosses France, Belgium and Germany) and from its proximity to the border with the Hexagon.

EUROCOMMERCIAL IN ITALY

6,5 million visitors to the Le Grand Prés shopping centre

Le Grand Près reaches 746.000 residents within a 30-minute drive, a figure that rises to more than 904.000 when neighbouring areas, including those in France, are included, and attracts more than 6,5 million visitors a year

As an important administrative, university and cultural urban hub, Mons offers a customer base supported by a substantial number of jobs in the public sector, the presence of international groups, including Google and I-Care (predictive and preventive maintenance and reliability of industrial facilities), and the community linked to nearby Shape, the headquarters of Nato's Allied Operations Command.

The extensive shopping offer strengthens the asset's appeal at regional level, setting it apart from the retail parks in the surrounding area, which are mainly focused on selling essential goods.

The mall, with 27.000 sq m of gross lettable area and more than 100 shops, has an occupancy rate of 97% per cent.

The tenant mix includes Zara, H&M, Mango, Courir, Medi-Market, Rituals, Samsung, Tezenis, Intimissimi, Kiko, Lacoste, Pandora and 22 food-service brands, including Mc Donald's.

The appeal is further enhanced by the complementary offering, included in the transaction and consisting of direct internal access to an Ikea store measuring 35.500 m2, a Carrefour hypermarket measuring 20.200 sq m and the adjacent retail park, covering 11.700 square metres.

There are as many as 4.200 parking spaces, while the acquired plot has a total area of 150.000 sq m.

Originally opened in 2003, Les Grands Prés was expanded and refurbished between 2014 and 2016 and boasts a Breeam very good certification.

A yield of 8.000 euros per sq m

The centre's high turnover, amounting to 8.000 euros per sq m, and its low occupancy cost ratio (10,5%) indicate scope for further rental growth, while maintaining affordable investment levels for retailers.

Together with the letting of vacant space, rent optimisation and the planned reorganisation of the complex, these initiatives should support the growth of net revenue and improve the return on the initial outlay of 7,5%.

The acquisition, closing this 4 November, will be financed through a combination of the proceeds from a capital increase of 5 million and 200.000 shares, closed on 30 November (128,4 million in gross proceeds), equity and existing credit facilities.

THE FIRST NINE MONTHS 2026 OF EUROCOMMERCIAL PROPERTIES

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.