Pan-European real estate private equity firm ActivumSG has sold three shopping centres in Spain to an undisclosed buyer for around €140 million.
The shopping centres in Spain are the SOM Multeispai (‘SOM’) in Barcelona, the Centro Commercial Ruta de la Plata (Ruta) and also the Centro Commercial Zubiarte (Zubiarte) in Bilbao.
The portfolio has been acquired from the ActivumSG-advised Iberia Fund I by an undisclosed buyer.
SOM has a 388,000 square foot Gross Leasable Area (GLA), Ruta 191,000 square feet and Zubiarte 240,000 square feet.
The shopping centres benefited from a transformational programme of hands-on proactive management, tenant engagement and strategic capital expenditure, says ActivumSG. This resulted in significant improvements to tenant sales figures and footfall, exceeding levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shopping centres in Spain show uptick in performance
Despite a continued challenging retail environment, even in 2023, the portfolio saw a significant uptick in performance, boasting annual net rental growth of 11.7% a sales rise of 10.7% and a footfall increase of 9.0%.
Saul Goldstein, CEO and founder, ActivumSG, says, “This is what we love doing at ActivumSG as part of our direct real estate strategy. Using our vertically integrated capabilities and full lifecycle expertise, we turnaround underutilised, high-potential assets to create an end-product suitable for core buyers. Our local Spanish team deserves massive recognition, both in terms of its ability to identify the potential of these shopping centres and its ability to execute an extensive cap-ex program to unlock their potential from an asset management perspective.”
Brian Betel, Head of Direct Asset Transactions, ActivumSG, says, “After the acquisitions, we embarked on an intensive yet thoughtful program of hands-on asset management, involving extensive tenant engagement and targeted capital expenditure. This resulted in the repositioning of each asset to optimize layouts, enhance footfall and create appealing shopping destinations by refining the retail offerings. This program included the provision of new customer access, additional family-oriented areas and the improvement of the internal flow of the assets with new escalators and elevators.
“We continue to evaluate the Spanish real estate market, seeking out undervalued opportunities particularly in the residential and hospitality sectors, where there is an under-supply of institutional-grade product as well as high-quality but mispriced retail assets.”
About ActivumSG
ActivumSG is one of Europe’s largest independent real estate investment managers. It invests via direct real estate investments, corporate platforms and special situations to maximise risk-adjusted returns
Founded by ex-Cerberus private equity real estate veteran Saul Goldstein, ActivumSG has raised close to €3 billion in discretionary capital from a global mix of institutional investors since 2007.
ActivumSG directly and indirectly employs and oversees over 290 professionals, who advise on investments with a combined gross asset value and end development value of over €8 billion.
