Carrefour buys 127 European shopping malls from Klepierre for $2.74 bn
25 Jan 2014
Carrefour SA, the world's second-largest retailer, and a group of institutional investors, yesterday signed a deal to buy a portfolio of 127 shopping malls in Europe from real estate group Klepierre, for €2 billion ($2.74 billion).
The Boulogne Billancourt, France-based company said that it has ''signed a binding agreement with Klépierre to acquire 127 shopping centres adjacent to its hypermarkets in Europe.'
Carrefour will create a new company to operate the 127 shopping malls located in France, Italy and Spain, and the 45 malls it already owns in France.
Carrefour will own 42 per cent of the new company and institutional investors will own the remainder, it said.
The French retailer will fund the deal through €1.8 billion in equity and through €900 million debt financing.
Klepierre, Europe's second-largest publicly traded shopping-mall operator, had in July 2012 said that it plans to raise €1 billion from asset sales by the end of 2013.
French bank BNP Paribas holds a 22-per cent stake in Klepierre.
