Joint venture between Nbim and Sonae Sierra to acquire eight shopping centres in Spain

Norges Bank Investment Management (Nbim) and Sonae Sierra have announced the establishment of an Iberian joint venture to acquire a portfolio of eight shopping centres in Spain.

The portfolio

The portfolio comprises more than 250.000 sq m of gross lettable area and has a gross value of approximately 1,5 billion euros. 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. These are established shopping centres located in urban catchment areas characterised by high purchasing power. The seller is La Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España. The joint venture will also selectively assess further opportunities in the shopping centre sector in the Iberian Peninsula, in line with its strategic and return profile.

A growing business

Sierra will be responsible for managing the portfolio and, separately, will acquire the 100% of SCCE, which comprises a team of more than 130 people and currently manages the eight shopping centres included in the portfolio, as well as a further ten owned by third parties. Once the transaction is completed, Sierra will manage a total of 73 shopping centres in 8 countries and will reach total assets under management, AuM, of 8,5 billion euros.

Comments

Jayesh Patel, co-head of Europe, real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management, said: “This transaction strengthens our exposure to the European retail real estate sector and is in line with our investment strategy of partnering with specialist operators. We are pleased to work with Sonae Sierra, which brings a strong platform and established expertise in the Iberian Peninsula, and we look forward to working with its team.”

Luis Mota Duarte, deputy CEO and executive director of Sonae Sierra, said: “Long-term partnerships with leading institutional investors, based on shared objectives, trust and transparency, have always been central to Sierra’s growth. Nbim is one of the most highly regarded investors internationally and shares an approach that is fully aligned with ours, so we are delighted to begin this collaboration. We are also pleased to welcome the SCCE team, which will further strengthen our operating platform in Spain.”

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.