Silver Fir Capital SGR secures €150m for Italian shopping centre

Silver Fir Capital SGR, acting as the external manager for Felix SICAF, has finalised a €150 mln financing agreement with UniCredit and Banco BPM.

Centro Sicilia, Catania

Felix SICAF, which is managed by Silver Fir Capital SGR and counts funds managed by Farallon Capital Management and Reve Asset Management among its participants, owns the Centro Sicilia shopping centre. The new capital is intended to optimise the financial structure of the complex, which includes the main shopping centre and its adjacent retail park.

Silver Fir Capital SGR was advised on the transaction by CBRE acting as debt advisor, while Legance provided legal counsel.

Located in Catania, Centro Sicilia is recognised as one of Italy’s premier retail assets. Encompassing 89,733 m2 of GLA across 152 units and a large retail park, the centre maintained full occupancy in 2025 and is projected to record approximately 9 million visitors for the year.

The deal comes at a time of renewed strength for the Italian retail sector, which saw investment volumes surge by 49% year-over-year in 2025 to roughly €4.1 bn. This confirms retail as Italy's most dynamic commercial real estate asset class, led by out-of-town retail transactions, which reached their highest investment volume since 2016.

Lorenzo Baroni, CEO of Silver Fir Capital SGR, said: "Central Sicily is an asset we strongly believe in, and this transaction confirms our long-term vision of a portfolio capable of generating stable value over time. We will continue to invest with conviction in transactions of this quality."

Silvia Gandellini, head of Capital Markets Italy at CBRE, said: "The credit market is decisively rewarding dominant retail assets capable of generating consistently growing revenue and footfall, as demonstrated by the Centro Sicilia case."

Massimiliano Rossi, head of Capital Advisors Italy at CBRE, added: "Transactions like Centro Sicilia demonstrate how the debt market is now willing to reward retail assets with solid fundamentals and consistent growth over time. We are proud to have supported Silver Fir in this important transaction, which once again confirms the liquidity of the debt market for dominant commercial assets."