Mitiska REIM, a specialist investor in European convenience real estate, announced on behalf of the FRI 2 fund the sale of a French and Portuguese retail park to Sogenial Immobilier, an institutional real estate fund manager headquartered in Paris, overseeing a portfolio of assets exceeding one billion euros.
This sale marks the completion of Mitiska REIM’s value-creation programs for these assets and follows similar divestments in Belgium, Portugal and Romania over the past three months which have delivered more than €500 million of sales proceeds.
Under the terms of the deal, Sogenial Immobilier has acquired Retail Park Val Saint-Clair in Hérouville-Saint-Clair near Caen, and Lima Retail Park located north of Porto in the city of Viana do Castelo.
Retail Park Val Saint-Clair was Mitiska REIM’s first acquisition in France in 2017, on behalf of the FRI 2 fund. Comprising 19 units with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 17,453 sqm, the retail park is food-anchored by an adjacent Carrefour shopping centre. Tenants include Electro Depot, Action, JYSK, Go Sport, KFC, Chaussea and Maxi Zoo. Over the past five years, Mitiska REIM’s value-add program has transformed the retail park by repositioning the property to become a local convenience hub and one of the most successful and sustainable retail parks in the area, receiving a “Very Good” BREEAM certification.
Lima Retail Park was acquired in 2019 and has a GLA of 10,763 sqm, comprising 12 units with tenants that include Maxmat, Hôma, Sports Direct, Kiwoko and Fábrica dos Óculos. Following a rebranding and refurbishment program two years ago, the retail park has received a “Good” BREEAM certification and is now a well-diversified convenience centre fulfilling the needs of the local shoppers.
Sylvie Geuten-Carpentier, Managing Partner at Mitiska REIM, comments: “We continue to see significant interest from buyers for high-quality retail park assets that have now reached core status. In December last year, we successfully realized all assets in the FRI fund and these sales today are part of an ongoing program of divestments from the FRI 2 fund as our value-add programs reach completion.”
Axel Despriet, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Mitiska REIM adds: “Looking forward, we see a unique opportunity in convenience real estate in both France and Portugal and across our other European markets, spanning retail parks, multi-let light industrial, self-storage and urban logistics. With fundraising on track for our third flagship fund, MEREP 3, we believe that 2024 could be an exceptional vintage year on the back of the dry powder available to take advantage of the current market environment.”
