Intu Properties has struck a deal to sell the Puerto Venecia shopping centre in Spain for €475.3m.
The company, which owns the asset in Zaragoza in partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, will receive €237.7m from the deal as it looks to address its balance sheet with the value of its UK shopping centres continuing to plummet.
The transaction will deliver net proceeds to Intu of around €115m after repaying asset-level debt, working capital adjustments and taxation. Intu will use the net proceeds to repay debt with the transaction reducing loan to value by around 1%. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain completion conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to complete in early 2020.
The Intu Puerto Venecia is the regional retail and leisure destination for the Aragon region with an annual footfall of 19 million.
Matthew Roberts, chief executive of Intu, said: “We are pleased to have successfully concluded this transaction and, as previously discussed, are at advanced stages of negotiations on the disposal of intu Asturias in Northern Spain.
“As we announced at the interim results in July, our number one priority is fixing the balance sheet which includes creating liquidity through disposals. This transaction, which along with the part-disposal of intu Derby and other sundry asset sales in 2019 brings the year to date disposals total to £479m.”
INTU : Intu sells Spanish mall for €475m