Vukile enters Italian market with acquisition and launches Esperia Properties

Vukile Property Fund has entered the Italian market with the acquisition of a €115m portfolio of three shopping centres, establishing Esperia Properties as its new Italian holding platform. 

La Centurie in Padua

The specialist retail REIT, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is targeting an Italian portfolio exceeding €500m over time.

The inaugural assets; Le Due Valli in Turin, Le Centurie in Padua and Quarto Nuovo in Naples were acquired at an initial yield of 10%. Vukile is already in advanced stages on two further Italian acquisitions totalling €200m, expected to deliver a cash‑on‑cash yield of 9%.

The move builds on Vukile’s established European strategy. Since entering Spain in 2017 through Castellana Properties, the group has expanded into larger, dominant shopping centres across Spain and Portugal, reshaping Castellana’s portfolio into a €2.2bn platform with prime assets in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Vukile’s total assets now stand at R63.7bn, with close to 70% of the portfolio in Iberia.

Ahead of its Italian entry, Vukile acquired a 35% stake in Pradera Limited, the pan‑European retail asset manager with €5bn under management. Pradera, which has managed Esperia’s first three Italian assets for a decade, will continue to lead asset management for the new platform.

Laurence Rapp, Chief Executive of Vukile Property Fund, said: “What Vukile is doing in Italy follows the same approach that served us so well in Spain and Portugal. We enter markets with conviction, add value through active management, build scale over time and stay focused on our retail specialisation.”

Roberto Limetti, Managing Director of Pradera, added: “The transition to Esperia’s ownership is seamless. We know these assets extremely well and are already progressing a clear asset management strategy aligned with Vukile’s shopper‑centric approach.”

Vukile has also appointed Omar Khan as Group Chief Investment Officer. Based in Madrid, Khan has led investment activity across the Iberian portfolio and will now oversee group‑wide investments, with an immediate focus on building Esperia Properties in Italy.

Khan said: “The Italian opportunity carries many of the same characteristics that drew us to Spain; strong consumer fundamentals, undersupplied dominant centres, attractive yields and meaningful scope to grow income.”

Italy’s retail market offers a favourable backdrop, supported by high household net wealth, low debt levels, strong discretionary spending and Europe’s lowest e‑commerce penetration at around 10%.