The deal in Italy, Klépierre’s second-largest market after France, further solidifies the company´s positioning in the region. The transaction is expected to close on Friday and is worth more than 200 million euros, according to Reuters.
RomaEst, the second largest shopping center in the Italian capital after Porta di Roma, will be Klépierre’s second acquisition in less than six months after O’Parinor in Paris. With 10 million visitors a year, RomaEst is Italy´s sixth most visited shopping center.
“We are opportunistic but also patient, we never sacrifice quality, we want the best,” told Klépierre chairman Jean-Marc Jestin to Reuters, adding that the company aims to have one or more centres in most of major European cities to benefit from the continent’s increasing urbanisation.
According to Jestin, Klepiérre had 330 shopping centers 10 years ago, compared with just above 70 today. “It’s a good thing we made this change, because if we hadn’t, I think we’d have a lot of shopping centres today where it would be difficult to attract retailers and customers,” adds Jestin.
