Metro AG has announced that its real estate arm, Metro Properties, has sold a portfolio of six Makro Spain properties to LaSalle Investment Management for €73 million.
LaSalle Investment Management acquired the portfolio on behalf of the French public service pension scheme, ERAFP.
The decision to offload the six Makro Spain properties was part of a sale-and-leaseback transaction.
The transaction, which closed in June of this year, will allow Makro Spain to continue as the sole tenant of all six assets with a 15-year fixed lease term with extension options.
'Growth Potential'
Peter Gries, CEO of Makro Spain, said, "The transaction shows the commitment of our company with the Spanish market where sectors such as tourism and hospitality are developing great performance and offering clear growth potential for our company."
The six properties are located in Bilbao, Zaragoza, Badalona, Valencia, Alicante, and Palma De Mallorca.
These places are well-established tourist destinations which attract around 40 million overnight tourists annually.
Around 10.1 million residents live within a 30 to 45-minute drive from these locations, representing almost 22% of Spain's total population.
Long-Term Income
Mathias Malzbender, head of separate accounts for Continental Europe at LaSalle Investment Management, said, "Given the prime locations of the assets and strong sales record of the stores to date, we are confident that the Makro portfolio will produce attractive long-term income, continuing the strong performance of the fund to date."
Metro Properties was advised by the consulting firms CBRE and Simmons & Simmons for the transaction.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
