4 / 50
Market activity was similarly buoyant for single asset
deals. Seven shopping centres changed hands for
between €115m and €260m. Most of these were in
Spain, with Merlin Properties Socimi’s acquisition of the
Marineda City shopping centre in Galicia for €260m
being the most notable.
Benelux countries and the Netherlands also benefited
from the willingness of investors to widen their
geographical allocation. €568m was invested in
shopping centres in this sub-region, an historical peak
and more than twice the volume registered in 2013.
EUROPEAN RETAIL
INVESTMENT MARKET
SETS NEW RECORDS
“Southern Europe, where retail assets
sales and acquisitions rose from €3bn in
2013 to €8bn in 2014.”
Whilst the French market recorded the highest volume
of transactions on record (€6.4bn), the surprise of the
year came from Southern Europe, where retail asset
sales and acquisitions rose from €3bn in 2013 to €8bn
in 2014. This reflects the biggest ever year-on-year
increase (135%) in volume across the region. It was
also a record year for investment in Southern European
countries with a total of €4.8bn.
Investor interest in the Southern European market
is set to continue in 2015 with €3bn in acquisitions
already recorded in the first quarter. At the same time,
the appetite of investors for the commercial real estate
market in general and the retail sector in particular is
likely to lead them to explore new territories to find
more opportunities across the region.
Shopping centres remain the most sought-after sub-
sector for investors, and accounted for more than half
of total retail investment with €24bn invested in 2014,
up 38% on 2013. This is an absolute record for both
market share and investment volume. The number of
deals in this sub-sector was also a first. 319 shopping
centres changed hands in Europe in 2014, compared to
an average of 196 deals per year over the last decade.
Another record was set with 46 portfolio deals, almost
three times the usual number. The largest portfolio deal
so far this year was carried out by Carrefour, which
took control of a European portfolio of 126 shopping
galleries from Klepierre for €2.3bn.
2014 saw a sharp rebound of activity in Europe’s
commercial real estate investment market. Volume
reached a record level of €194bn, up by 33% from 2013.
European investment volume in shopping centres
Source : Cushman &Wakefield Research
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2013
2014
UK
Southern Europe
France
Germany
Nordics
CEE
Benelux
Others
4
Retail Therapy
| 2015
EMEA