Blackstone Group LP, the largest private-equity investor in real estate, is in talks to buy two malls in Portugal, two people with knowledge of the transaction said.
New York-based Blackstone is very close to reaching an agreement to buy Almada Forum (pictured) and Forum Montijo from a fund controlled by Frankfurt-based Commerzbank AG, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the information is confidential. The fund, CG Malls Europe, is registered in Luxembourg.
The Portuguese malls, in the cities of Almada and Montijo, may be worth as much as €100 million each, said a third person, who asked not to be named. The malls have combined space of about 75,000 square meters (807,000 square feet). Jones Lang LaSalle is acting as the exclusive adviser on the deal.
A Blackstone spokesperson declined to comment. Markus Esser, head of communications at Commerz Real, Commerzbank’s property fund manager, also declined to comment. “We won’t comment on any possible talks, although I can confirm there are plans to sell the two malls in Portugal,” Esser said today by phone.
Almada and Montijo are linked to Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, by bridges across the Tagus river. Almada Forum has 262 shops spread over two stories and attracts more than 18 million visitors each year. Forum Montijo has 160 stores, 22 restaurants, a supermarket and a six-screen movie theater, according to its website.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
