Retail parks in Portugal: 5 properties sold to Swiss fund.

In Portugal, commercial retail real estate is once again the talk of the town. Before the pandemic, Mitiska REIM acquired five retail parks in Portugal. And now, after about five years, a Belgian investor has decided to sell them to a new fund owned by the Swiss-based Partners Group, along with five other retail parks located in Belgium. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

"Mitiska REIM, specializing in commercial real estate in Europe, announced the sale of five Belgian and five Portuguese retail parks to First Retail Partners, a newly created and managed Partners Group, a global venture capital firm," according to a statement published on the investor's page on December 27.

In Portugal, the five retail parks that changed ownership represent a gross leasable area of 105,500. sq. m and were acquired by Mitiska REIM between 2017 and 2019, prior to the pandemic. Here are specifically the retail parks currently being sold by the Partners Group fund: Parque Mondego (Coimbra); Focus Park Canidelo (Vila Nova de Gaia); Aveiro Retail Park; Alverca Park; Santarém Retail Park.

In Belgium, Mitiska REIM also sold five more retail parks, representing a gross leasable area of 77.5k. sq. м.

The Belgian investor also noted that these retail parks have been actively managed by his local teams to increase their value in the real estate market. They also noted that these retail sites are now occupied by "large supermarkets such as Lidl, Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Mercadona, Auchan or Pingo Doce", have a "strong diversity" from national and international stores and have BREEAM certificate grades ranging from "Good" to "Excellent".

This sale is therefore the completion of the development and value creation programs for these properties. According to Jan Du Bois, executive director of Mitiska REIM for Belgium, Spain and Portugal, the sale of these properties is proof of "the effectiveness of our value-added programs in Portugal and our successful past in delivering new successful developments in Belgium." The real estate transaction was conducted with Kepler Corporate Finance, Belfius and CBRE acting as financial advisors. The sale of retail parks is part of a €500 million divestment.

The truth is that the sale of a dozen properties by a Belgian retailer is part of a larger disinvestment strategy in Europe. Says Axel Despreet, co-founder and managing partner of Mitiska REIM: "This latest deal follows Mitiska REIM's recent sale of 25 retail parks in Romania and amounts to around €500 million of disinvestment in December alone, proving the resilience of this asset class despite the current economic environment. "

The sale of the Belgian and Romanian portfolios also means "a successful exit from all assets of the FRI fund, the first fund raised and advised by Mitiska REIM since 2012, providing investors with a level of returns above expectations," concludes Axel Despreet.

These ten retail parks are now owned by the new First Retail Partners fund, which has a gross value of around EUR 280 million and will be managed by Mitiska REIM with support from Partners Group. Regarding this, Sylvie Goiten-Carpentier, managing partner of Mitiska REIM, comments that he is "very pleased" to have entered into a strategic partnership with Partners Group, making the company the new manager of this fund.

In the future, Mitiska REIM will continue to operate in the Belgian and Portuguese markets. We continue to see a strong pipeline of new opportunities for mixed-use retail parks in Belgium and Portugal, covering 'multi-year light manufacturing', 'self-storage' and urban logistics projects," emphasized Sylvie Goiten-Carpentier.