Klepierre to buy Rome mall in opportunistic European expansion
21/05/2024 17:40
By Federica Mileo and Diana Mandia
May 21 (Reuters) - Klepierre LOIM.PA , whose tenants
include Zara and H&M, is buying Italy's RomaEst shopping centre,
its Chairman Jean-Marc Jestin told Reuters on Tuesday, as the
French mall owner steps up its presence in big European cities.
The deal in Italy -- which is Klepierre's second biggest
market after France -- is due to be finalised on Friday and is
worth more than 200 million euros ($217 million), it said.
RomaEst, the Italian capital's second-largest shopping
centre after Porta di Roma, which is also the country's biggest
mall, will mark Klepierre's second acquisition in less than six
months after O'Parinor in Paris.
"We are opportunistic but also patient, we never sacrifice
quality, we want the best," Jestin said, adding that Klepierre
aims to have one or more centres in most of major European
cities to benefit from the continent's increasing urbanisation.
RomaEst is Italy's sixth most visited shopping centre, with
10 million visits a year, and Klepierre said the acquisition
will be accretive to its EPRA earnings -- a key measure of a
company's underlying operating results -- from day one and will
generate a high annual cash return, without giving details.
Klepierre, which operates 70 shopping centres in 10
countries across continental Europe, has been selling its
smaller and less strategic assets in order to invest in the
biggest 40 European cities.
"We are the only shopping centre group in Europe that is
acquiring assets, while our competitors are mostly selling",
Jestin said in an interview, pointing to Klepierre's strong
capital base coupled with the proceeds from disposals.
Jestin said the impact of the RomaEst acquisition on
Klepierre's debt metrics would be insignificant and its debt
ratings with S&P and Fitch would remain unchanged.
Klepierre reported a 4.3% rise retailer sales in the first
quarter, slightly below the 5.3% posted by peer
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield URW.PA in continental Europe.
($1 = 0.9211 euros)
(Reporting by Federica Mileo and Diana Mandia; Editing by
Alexander Smith)
((federica.mileo@thomsonreuters.com; +48587785332;))