This Week's Europe Deal Sheet
Henderson Park, a London-based property firm, purchased Le Meridien Etoile for €365M.
The hotel, which is less than a mile from the Arc de Triomphe, boasts 1,025 rooms and is the largest hotel in Paris. The recently refurbished hotel is operated by Starwood Hotels.
UK
Markus Automative Ltd took a 5,535 SF lease at Segro’s Westway Estate. Markus Automative is a bespoke car manufacturer specialising in the transformation of classic cars into electric powered vehicles. Westway Estate is now fully let.
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Orchard Street Investment acquired Dolphin Park, a distribution centre in Thurrock, East London, for £11.04M. The asset was acquired on behalf of a pension fund by way of a sale and leaseback from The Hill Co, and represents a yield of 4.65%.
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Glyn Lloyd joined Farebrother as a partner and will focus on providing occupier advisory services.
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DP Leisure, operator of the 360 Play children’s entertainment centre brand, will open a fifth UK site in 2017 at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch, Worcestershire. The new centre will feature 12k SF of play area for toddlers up to pre-teens.
Belgium
AEW acquired a prime retail asset in the historic centre of Ghent. The former post office building dating back to 1909 comprises 39k SF of retail space in the Korenmarkt area of the City. The property is 100% let to fashion retailers Sissy Boy and Men at Work, Skins Cosmetics, Le Pain Quotidien and supermarket Albert Heijn. The seller was MG Real Estate.
Denmark
M7 Real Estate acquired a portfolio of 76 assets across Denmark from Danske Bank. M7 will act as asset manager through its Copenhagen-based team, which is headed by Mette Seifert. The portfolio comprises a mix of retail, office and residential assets that are on prominent high streets in the Greater Copenhagen area, as well as in key regional towns and cities throughout Denmark.
France
AEW acquired a portfolio of three properties in Cannes and Lille for €60M on behalf of FONDIS. FONDIS is a fund that is focused on acquiring and managing retail assets across France. The portfolio includes a 17k SF, two-floor retail unit at 15-17 Rue de Béthune in Lille, the city’s main shopping street, which is let to fashion brand MANGO.
Two further properties that have been acquired are luxury boutiques in Cannes that are let to Céline and Giorgio Armani. The assets are at 42/43 Boulevard de la Croisette, a prime location alongside a large number of luxury boutiques and between two five star hotels, the Majestic and the Grand Hôtel.
The Netherlands
The Student Hotel group acquired The Carlyle Group’s 85% shareholding in three properties in Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam West.
The Rotterdam location was the first operation in The Netherlands and opened in 2012 with 256 rooms, doubling its capacity to 485 rooms in 2014 to satisfy increasing demand. The Student Hotel Amsterdam West is the largest hotel in the Benelux, with 707 rooms. The location in The Hague opened with 310 rooms in summer 2014. All student rooms have been fully occupied since opening.
