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Madrid/ Bloomberg
Via Outlets is buying a discount fashion mall on the Spanish island of Mallorca from Varde Partners LP for more than 100 million euros ($112 million), Varde said in an e-mailed statement.
Varde acquired Festival Park in December 2011 and tenants including Nike, Calvin Klein and Lacoste helped draw more than four million visitors last year, the company said. The center also has restaurants and Mallorca’s largest cinema multiplex.
“The Spanish real estate market has improved significantly from when we acquired the asset in 2011,†Tim Mooney, co-head of global real estate at Varde, said in the statement. “This improvement is reflected in the operating performance of Festival Park as well as investor appetite for Spanish real estate assets.â€
Via Outlets was set up in 2014 by mall operator Hammerson Plc, Dutch pension fund APG Groep NV, Value Retail and investor Meyer Bergman to acquire European outlet malls and improve their performance. Sales rose 12 percent at their six discount fashion centers in the first half of last year. Hammerson forecasts assets acquired by Via Outlets to achieve internal rates of return of 10 percent to 12 percent, the landlord said in a presentation in November. Hammerson declined to comment on the acquisition.