Citycon has today acquired the shopping centre Arabia in Helsinki, Finland, for EUR 19.5 million from Tapiola Group. Shopping centre Arabia is located in the fringe of Helsinki’s city centre, some four kilometres North-East on a lot owned by the City of Helsinki. The shopping centre has a gross leasable area of approximately 14,000 square metres, with 11,400 square metres of retail premises. The net initial yield on the acquisition price is around 6 per cent but it is expected to grow rapidly to 7 per cent after planned commercial development actions.
Arabianranta is former industrial area that has been converted into an urban residential and campus area during past decades. Round 13,000 inhabitants live in the Arabianranta area and thousands of homes have been built there during the last 10 years and further homes are under construction. Rich in cultural history and modern community living the Arabianranta area at the moment employs 6,000 people and offers 13,000 students a place to study. It is a part of Helsinki’s tram and bus network.
“The excellent location of the centre with good public transportation connections and its situation among a demographically strong, urban living, working and studying environment brings growth potential in daily footfall. Our aim is to reach this potential with active development: we will both increase and diversify the offering of the centre. The centre fits Citycon’s strategy like a glove: we invest in shopping centres located in growing city centres,” says Michael Schönach, Head of Citycon’s Finnish Operations.
Arabia Shopping Centre in Figures | |
Gross leasable area, sq.m. | approx. 14,000 |
Retail premises, sq.m. | approx. 11,400 |
Other, sq.m. | approx. 2,600 |
Number of shops | 31 |
Built/redeveloped in | Built 1960 Redeveloped 2002 |
Sales, EUR million, 2011 | 48.2 |
No. of parking spaces | 326 heated spaces |
Anchor tenants | K-Supermarket, S-Market, Tarjoustalo, Alko, Chico’s, pharmacy |
Economic occupancy rate, % | 93 |
Citycon financed the acquisition from its existing credit facilities. The acquisition will increase rental income and improve the profitability of Citycon’s Finnish operations. It is also expected to be earnings per share accretive.
Following the acquisition, Citycon owns 36 shopping centres and 41 other retail properties in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania. In addition, the company manages and leases two shopping centres without owning them. In Finland, Citycon owns a total of 23 shopping centres after the acquisition.
Helsinki, 4 April 2012
CITYCON OYJ
Marcel Kokkeel
CEO
For further information, please contact:
Michael Schönach, Executive VP, Finnish Operations
Tel. +358 40 356 0909
michael.schonach@citycon.fi
Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Major media
www.citycon.com