Union Investment divests Gothenburg retail park

Union Investment has sold its Sisjö Entré retail park in Gothenburg, which it had owned since 2008, to Swedish real estate company Bygg-Göta, for an undisclosed price.

Sisjoe Entre Retail Park, Gothenburg

The sale was made to refresh Union Investment's portfolio and take advantage of the strong Swedish retail market. 
The company plans to reinvest the profits, which were significantly higher than the property's last valuation, into new food-anchored retail parks in Sweden, Spain, or the Netherlands. The 15,300 m2 retail park, located south of Gothenburg, is 98% occupied. 
Felix Brandt, investment manager at Union Investment, said: “We took advantage of the improving retail investment market sentiment in Sweden to divest our asset for portfolio strategic reasons. Through our active asset management over the 17-year holding period, we were able to unlock value now realised in a successful exit with a purchase price significantly above the most recent appraised value.”
Michael Kammerzell, head of Fund Management – Special Real Estate Funds @ Union Investment, added: “The retail property was one of the first European assets in the DEFO-Immobilienfonds 1 portfolio. The released liquidity will be reinvested within the next months, preferably in grocery-anchored retail parks in Sweden, Spain or the Netherlands.”
Union Investment was advised by Gernandt & Danielsson, KPMG, and Drees & Sommer. Panreal from Gothenburg acted as broker and commercial advisor on behalf of the seller.