Shopping centre serves as Prague foothold but may not lead to further central Europe buys
Klépierre, the Paribas property subsidiary, is to make its investment debut in Prague with the purchase of a big stake in a shopping centre for around €68.6m (FFr450m).
The 57,500m2 shopping centre is being built on the former Tatra car factory site in the city’s Novy Fmichov district.
The French property company is effectively buying 39,400m2 of the scheme. It is being built in a joint venture between developer Delsys – controlled by French entrepreneur Georges Pébéreau – and the CGIS subsidiary of Vivendi.
The shopping centre will have an 18,100m2 Carrefour hypermarket. The French retailer will own the part of the building that it occupies, and Klépierre is buying the rest, which will be rented out to around 130 to 150 small and medium-sized retailers.
There will also be a 12-screen multiplex cinema. Opening of the scheme is set for the end of next year. Klépierre has not revealed the exact purchase price, but the company says that total rental receipts will be around €7.6m (FFr50m) a year and it is thought that Klépierre expects double digit returns on its investment, suggesting a price of €68.6m (FFr450m).
According to Klépierre finance director Jean-Michel Gault: “The site is well-positioned, near the centre of the city, with excellent metro and tramway links. We think this is a good moment to invest in a top-quality project of this type in the capital of a country that is preparing to join the EU and the euro.”
Klépierre has yet to decide whether it will make further investments in the Czech Republic. The company has been frustrated in its attempts to buy more retail investments in France because of a dearth of opportunities.
It made its first shopping centre acquisition outside France in 1998 jointly with Italian company FINIM of a scheme in Brescia, Italy.
