Singapore fund Gic sells Roma Est to Klépierre

For some years, they have been in a cone of shadow that has made them almost invisible to investors, who were instead busy buying logistics and hotels. Now shopping centres, as part of a real estate allocation strategy, are becoming more attractive, due to the return of consumption and the repricing that has seen prices fall. Although it is still a long shot to speak of a real recovery, rather of timid signs of interest.

According to rumours circulating on the market, a mega-transaction for the Roma Est shopping centre in the capital is in the final stages.

Buying the centre was the listed French group Klépierre, which reportedly offered around 220-230 million for the facility, which is now 100 per cent owned by Gic, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund. The centre when it opened in 2007 was owned 50 per cent by Gic and the other 50 per cent by Cbre Global Investors. Then Gic became 100 per cent owner during 2014 and four years later chose to put it on the market, but the deal had ended in nothing at the time.

Roma Est is among the largest shopping centres in Italy, totalling 100,000 square metres, with 210 shops and 7,000 parking spaces. Facilities also include a Uci multiplex cinema, the Panorama hypermarket, and 20 bars and restaurants in the Galleria. Among the brands present are Adidas, Foot Locker, Chicco, Intimissimi and Calzedonia. The annual yield, according to the well-informed, is around 10 per cent.

This, once signed, will be the second large transaction in 2024 in the retail segment, following Igd's sale of a portfolio of 13 assets, valued at EUR 258 million, to Sixth Street and some subsidiaries of Starwood Capital.