Iberia Coop – a fund owned in 10% by Sonae Sierra and 90% by international investors – has just reached an agreement for the sale of AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park to FREY, a French company specialized in the development and management of open-air shopping centers.
Sonae Sierra will continue to be responsible for the property management and leasing of the shopping center and the retail park, due to its 30-year track record and expertise in the property management and leasing of retail real estate assets of its owned portfolio and for clients, in different geographies. This transaction is part of the capital recycling strategy that Sonae Sierra has been implementing, seeking to invest in assets with value-creation potential, as well as in development projects.
Fernando Guedes de Oliveira, CEO of Sonae Sierra, stated: “We are very pleased with the completion of this transaction, which is another important milestone in the implementation of Sonae Sierra’s strategy and a market recognition of the high quality of the real estate assets in which we invest. At the same time, the maintenance of the property management and leasing of AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park attests the investors’ high confidence in our experience and expertise, and their continued trust in Sonae Sierra as the partner of choice in the geographies where we operate”.
AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park have a diverse and attractive commercial and leisure offer of around 60,000 sq m with multiple local and international brands, including all brands of the Inditex group (Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, etc), Fnac, C&A, H&M, JD Sport, Rádio Popular and Worten, a Continente hyperrmarket, about 20 restaurants, a cinema and a parking lot for 3,000 vehicles.
Located in an area with approximately 280,000 inhabitants (excluding hotel stays, which may increase the area of influence to 800,000 people during the summer), AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park have performed very well since their inauguration, with a Global Occupancy Rate of 99.8% and over 7.5 million visits per year.
